More than 200 members of the e-hailing community in Gqeberha downed their keys in solidarity with their national counterparts on the first day of a three-day shutdown on Tuesday.
The rolling shutdowns had the buy-in from e-hailers in Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
Acting in solidarity, thousands of e-hailers associated with the Uber, Bolt, Didi and InDriver apps have decided not to log onto the apps to transport any clients for the duration of the shutdown.
This caused major disruptions for those who rely on the service for transport.
Members of the e-hailing community, which represents the interests of various e-hailing owners, operators and drivers, decided to embark on the shutdown to voice their displeasure with what they call the government's unwillingness to address the challenges facing the industry.
Their challenges include low fares as prescribed by the apps, the recent hike in the fuel price, data costs, car maintenance, robberies, a high commission structure and alleged harassment by road traffic officials and minibus taxi drivers.
A memorandum states that e-hailing services began operations in SA in 2013, with Uber the first in the market.
Thereafter it was Taxify in April 2016, which has now been rebranded as Bolt.
In March 2019, InDriver came into the market, followed by Didi in August 2021.
The National Land Transport Amendment (NLTA) Bill 2009 was introduced to formally recognise e-hailing services.
The bill was passed by the National Assembly on March 10 2020 and empowers transport minister Fikile Mbalula to make regulations for standards or requirements of e-hailing applications or similar technologies.
The Amendment Bill provides for e-hailing services in the NLTA, but it awaits President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval.
E-hailers want the bill to be signed into law.
Their demands to the presidency include:
- Ramaphosa should show leadership and the political willingness to regulate the e-hailing sector;
- Apps/software companies and operators should be regulated;
- The exploitation by app companies of operators and drivers should be stopped; and
- Ramaphosa should compel Mbalula to engage with the e-hailing community.
According to e-hailers, the department of trade, industry and competition should duly register the app companies which have operations that encroach into the transportation space and put mechanisms in place to prohibit unfair business practices.
Kagiso Khaole, head of mobility operations for Sub-Saharan Africa at Uber, said: “We are aware of a group of e-hailing drivers who are planning to protest on March 22 to March 24.
“We take the concerns of drivers seriously and are currently engaging directly using our various engagement channels to work towards addressing the issues.
“Our commitment to drivers is to continuously find ways of maximising their earning potential while meeting the needs of the riders.”
Touching on the fare increase related to the global volatility of fuel prices, Khaole said Uber took the economics of running a business on the Uber platform and also the concerns of drivers around inflationary pressure seriously.
Khaole said there were several economic factors, particularly the global volatility of fuel prices, which affected the cost of moving people and goods.
“With this in mind, we have increased prices on the app to account for the blow of inflationary increases.
“As always, riders will see the price of a trip before booking their journey.
“Our goal is to maintain a holistic view on these inflationary pressures to ensure that the platform remains economically viable for drivers,” he said.
On Tuesday, e-hailers in the metro said a large majority of them were participating in the strike.
“This is going to affect our pockets, and our clients, but we have no other choice but to use these methods to get the powers-that-be to pay attention to our plight,” an e-hailer owner, who did not want to be named, said.
Clients said they supported e-hailer drivers, though the three-day shutdown had already caused major inconvenience.
On Wednesday, the memorandum will be handed over to Bay mayor Eugene Johnson, or one of her elected representatives at the City Hall.
HeraldLIVE
Disgruntled e-hailers down keys for three days
Senior Reporter
Image: FREDLIN ADRIAAN
More than 200 members of the e-hailing community in Gqeberha downed their keys in solidarity with their national counterparts on the first day of a three-day shutdown on Tuesday.
The rolling shutdowns had the buy-in from e-hailers in Gauteng, the Western Cape, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
Acting in solidarity, thousands of e-hailers associated with the Uber, Bolt, Didi and InDriver apps have decided not to log onto the apps to transport any clients for the duration of the shutdown.
This caused major disruptions for those who rely on the service for transport.
Members of the e-hailing community, which represents the interests of various e-hailing owners, operators and drivers, decided to embark on the shutdown to voice their displeasure with what they call the government's unwillingness to address the challenges facing the industry.
Their challenges include low fares as prescribed by the apps, the recent hike in the fuel price, data costs, car maintenance, robberies, a high commission structure and alleged harassment by road traffic officials and minibus taxi drivers.
A memorandum states that e-hailing services began operations in SA in 2013, with Uber the first in the market.
Thereafter it was Taxify in April 2016, which has now been rebranded as Bolt.
In March 2019, InDriver came into the market, followed by Didi in August 2021.
The National Land Transport Amendment (NLTA) Bill 2009 was introduced to formally recognise e-hailing services.
The bill was passed by the National Assembly on March 10 2020 and empowers transport minister Fikile Mbalula to make regulations for standards or requirements of e-hailing applications or similar technologies.
The Amendment Bill provides for e-hailing services in the NLTA, but it awaits President Cyril Ramaphosa’s approval.
E-hailers want the bill to be signed into law.
Their demands to the presidency include:
According to e-hailers, the department of trade, industry and competition should duly register the app companies which have operations that encroach into the transportation space and put mechanisms in place to prohibit unfair business practices.
Kagiso Khaole, head of mobility operations for Sub-Saharan Africa at Uber, said: “We are aware of a group of e-hailing drivers who are planning to protest on March 22 to March 24.
“We take the concerns of drivers seriously and are currently engaging directly using our various engagement channels to work towards addressing the issues.
“Our commitment to drivers is to continuously find ways of maximising their earning potential while meeting the needs of the riders.”
Touching on the fare increase related to the global volatility of fuel prices, Khaole said Uber took the economics of running a business on the Uber platform and also the concerns of drivers around inflationary pressure seriously.
Khaole said there were several economic factors, particularly the global volatility of fuel prices, which affected the cost of moving people and goods.
“With this in mind, we have increased prices on the app to account for the blow of inflationary increases.
“As always, riders will see the price of a trip before booking their journey.
“Our goal is to maintain a holistic view on these inflationary pressures to ensure that the platform remains economically viable for drivers,” he said.
On Tuesday, e-hailers in the metro said a large majority of them were participating in the strike.
“This is going to affect our pockets, and our clients, but we have no other choice but to use these methods to get the powers-that-be to pay attention to our plight,” an e-hailer owner, who did not want to be named, said.
Clients said they supported e-hailer drivers, though the three-day shutdown had already caused major inconvenience.
On Wednesday, the memorandum will be handed over to Bay mayor Eugene Johnson, or one of her elected representatives at the City Hall.
HeraldLIVE
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