Cape Town - Getting behind the wheel of their Uber taxi may cost them their lives or that of their passengers.
This was the view of dozens of Uber taxi drivers who marched in the city centre on Tuesday demanding an end to the new cash payment option made available to passengers.
One Uber driver, Faiza Haupt from Athlone, said she felt particularly vulnerable being a woman in a male-dominated industry, especially after an Uber driver was attacked in Manenberg last week and his vehicle set alight.
The driver, whose identity is being withheld for fear of reprisal, is in a coma.
“I started Uber because of the safety of no cash. I don’t feel safe anymore. My family worries about my safety all the time, and I worry about my passengers’ safety too,” said Haupt, who has worked with Uber for more than two years.
She is a driver-partner and owns two vehicles.
Another protesting driver, who did not want to be identified, said a fellow driver narrowly escaped death by driving to a police station after being followed by “taxi guys” who pointed a gun at him.
“Each time you leave home, you tell your wife to pray for you,” he said. “We feel threatened. Anything can happen anywhere. That’s why we’re protesting, not working right now - we want to be safe.”
He said that before the cash system, Uber catered to a different market to meter taxis and minibus taxis.
“The people who use Uber are affluent. It’s a different customer,” he said. “Now, because they are taking cash, the taxi guys are complaining we are taking their work.”
He said there were many more drivers who would join the protest in future - enough to bring Uber to a standstill.
Viciously assaulted
A convoy of drivers arrived at the company’s Green Point offices to protest on Tuesday, but Uber management did not meet with them. The drivers then went to the Provincial Legislature, in the hopes that Premier Helen Zille would hear their concerns and take it up with Uber.
Julian Wenn, spokesman for the drivers who are affiliated with the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), said he suspected it was because of the cash payment service that the driver was attacked.
“One of our members was viciously assaulted and his vehicle burnt and he’s in a coma,” Wenn said. “We want to sit down with Uber and have a discussion about us not taking cash anymore.”
The assaulted driver had picked up three men in Long Street, then dropped them in Manenberg where the attack happened.
Manenberg Safety Forum chairwoman, Roegshanda Pascoe, said that while the attack happened in a known robbery hotspot, it may have been a warning to Uber from taxi operators.
“We do suspect it could be a retaliation from taxi drivers who ambushed the driver as a warning to other meter taxis taking over their territory,” Pascoe said.
‘Cash payment system to blame’
The attacked driver’s wife told the Cape Argus on Tuesday he was still in a coma in hospital, but that doctors were optimistic.
The driver had been working for Uber since 2015 and had three children, his wife said.
“Right now I can’t say it was a taxi or a hijacking or what,” she said. “When he wakes up he can explain to me what happened.”
Protesting Uber drivers were certain that the cash payment system was to blame for the attack. They collected money to help support the driver’s family.
Uber used to be a cash-free service, where users would make payment through their credit card registered to the smartphone app. However, a cash payment option has been piloted in South Africa since the end of May.
“It’s bringing us into conflict with our meter taxi brothers and the minibus taxis,” Wenn said. “We’re not safe and something needs to be done.”
However, Uber spokeswoman Samantha Allenberg said there was no evidence the cash system was a danger.
“All trips on Uber are GPS tracked and we know your location throughout to ensure safety for both sides. To date we have not seen any increase in targeted crime in any countries running a cash experiment, including South Africa.”
Allenberg said that drivers could deposit cash into FNB autotellers across the country, and use it to buy fuel, so that they would never have to carry large sums of money. She did not address the fear of violence.
Cape Argus