Cape Town – Philippi residents who said they were tired of the area being labelled a hot spot for robberies and attacks on e-hailing drivers thwarted an attempt by two men to hijack a driver at the weekend.
According to Community Policing Forum secretary Melikhaya Gadeni, the driver of a silver Corolla was responding to a client request in Ntukwana Street, Brown’s Farm, when two
men tried to rob him on Monday morning.
“When the driver ran out of his vehicle, residents knew something wrong was happening.
“It seems like the men didn’t know how to drive or were having trouble starting the car, and w hen they noticed residents were approaching, they ran.
“Luckily the driver was not hurt, although he was traumatised,” said Gadeni.
He said drivers usually cancelled trips in the area but this driver may have accepted because of the
heavy police presence during the lockdown.
“These attacks on e-hailing service drivers are now affecting people who need to use them and go to work during this time. We have free and open wi-fi in the area and criminals are taking advantage of that.
“Before the lockdown, we were trying to speak to the companies offering this service to see if there could be a way to still offer it but make it hard for people to use it for criminal activities,” Gadeni said.
Bolt SA manager Gareth Taylor said they had not received a report of an attempted robbery or hijacking in Philippi.
“Bolt is also not aware of any increase in violent actions against drivers using the platform since lockdown began,” Taylor said.
“We unequivocally condemn violence of any form directed towards our ride-hailing driver-partners and we believe, absolutely, that every South African has the right to earn a living and move around without risk of harm, intimidation, coercion or fear of death or injury,” he added.
Uber said they were looking into the matter, but did not respond by deadline.