Uber, Bolt drivers hit the brakes in Cape Town for two-day strike

Samy Bala, Deputy Chair of the Western Cape E-Hailing Association, said Uber doesn’t take its drivers seriously and that the company only reacts when they protest. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks

By Liezl Human

18 Aug 2022

E-hailing drivers in Cape Town are demanding more money and an end to the freeze on new operating permits. They also want a reduction in the commissions taken by Uber and Bolt from the fares passengers pay.

Since the beginning of 2022, nearly 2,000 e-hailing vehicles without operating permits were impounded by the City of Cape Town’s traffic police. These were vehicles belonging to drivers for Uber, Bolt and inDriver, who were in violation because of a freeze on the issuing of new permits by the City.

Some Uber, Bolt and inDriver drivers went on strike on Wednesday and Thursday, demanding an end to the freeze on permits and to the impounding of their cars. According to traffic services spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout, 1,936 vehicles have been impounded this year.

The drivers also want the commissions the companies deduct from their fares to be reduced to 10%. Uber currently takes 25% and Bolt 26%.

The drivers, some of whom protested outside the Uber offices and the Cape Town Civic Centre, also want a minimum fare of R40 and a rate of R10 a kilometre.

Lists of demands were handed over to Uber, Bolt, inDriver and the City of Cape Town by the Western Cape E-Hailing Association, which organised the protest. Deputy chair of the association, Samy Bala, said that just over 1,000 members were not working.

Drivers cheered as the memorandum was read outside the Uber offices.

At the Civic Centre, about 50 protesters were met by Rob Quintas, MEC for Urban Mobility. Quintas told them he had noted their grievances and that the City was “moving at a very rapid pace” on the permit issue.

He said the City was developing an app for e-hailing drivers that would be ready in September. It would allow the City to get data on the demand for e-hailing services in order to determine how saturated the market is and whether more permits should be supplied.

In response to queries, Quintas said the freeze on new permits, imposed in February 2021, was necessary “to ensure the long-term sustainability of the metered-taxi industry”. He said the number of metered-taxi operating licences had increased from 685 in 2015 to about 4,300 (the metered-taxi industry includes e-hailing services).

Uber driver Larry Matare said he had been trying since 2017 to get an operating licence. He said he had lost count of how many times he had applied and been refused. Now, he doesn’t drive at weekends because the risk of having his car impounded by traffic officials is higher.

To get an impounded car released, the fee is R7,000 for a first impoundment, R10,000 for a second and R15,000 for a third.

Samy Bala said a large number of drivers are driving without permits. “The drivers are suffering… Your car can stay in the impound area for a week. Which means you don’t work for a week,” he said.

Samy Bala, Deputy Chair of the Western Cape E-Hailing Association, said that Uber doesn’t take its drivers seriously and that the company only reacts when they protest. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks)

Uber and Bolt response

In response to questions, Uber South Africa spokesperson Mpho Sebelebele said the company had been open to engaging with the e-hailing association to “find workable solutions”, but was disappointed that the drivers “are not willing to engage with us at this time, and only after the protest”.

She said Uber is aware of the pressures drivers face with increasing fuel prices, but that fares fluctuate depending on the season.

Matare, who used to work for Bolt, said driving for Bolt was “dangerous”. He said clients could “rob you without a trace” because so little information was needed to create a customer profile and request a trip.

Takura Malaba, country manager at Bolt SA, said the company would continue to engage with drivers to better understand their grievances. “Driver safety is a top priority for Bolt, and we unequivocally condemn any violence of any form directed towards ride-hailing passengers or drivers.”

Not employees

Uber in South Africa does not consider the drivers to be employees. A disclaimer in the response from Uber read: “Please note that drivers operate as independent contractors, so please refrain from using terms such as ‘work for Uber’ and referencing drivers as ‘Uber drivers’ or ‘Our drivers’, and rather use ‘drivers on the Uber platform’ or ‘drivers that use the Uber app’.”

But in other countries, drivers have been considered to be employees.

In 2019, France’s Court of Cassation, equivalent to the Constitutional Court, ruled that a former Uber driver was in an employment relationship with the company, and should not have been considered a “self-employed partner”.

In 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the United States ruled that an Uber driver was an employee, and entitled to unemployment benefits.

In 2021, the Amsterdam District Court ruled that Uber drivers were employees, and entitled to benefits in line with their status.

In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom also found that Uber drivers should be considered workers of the company, and not self-employed. DM

Originally published on GroundUp.

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Uber and Bolt response

Not employees