A Cape Flats crimefighter is calling on Bolt e-hailing services to sack one of their drivers after he allegedly sexually harassed her during a trip.
Fowzia Veerasamy, 47, says she felt disgusted and humiliated and feared the man would rape her as he diverted from his route and asked if he could be her “Ben 10”.
“On Saturday I went to a trauma training workshop in Lansdowne and booked a trip home to Gatesville along with someone else,” she explains.
“The driver named Richard came in a white Datsun.
“It started when he asked if we were partners and after we said we are colleagues, he told us how in his culture he does not believe in lesbians and I just left it like that.”
Fowzia says the driver dropped her colleague in Athlone but instead of going to Gatesville, he drove around Athlone with her.
“The GPS kept giving directions, but he just drove all around Athlone and Kewtown with me and then he started with the comments and asked me when last I had sex.”
Fowzia, who is also the chairperson of the Gatesville Neighbourhood Watch, says she began fearing that he would rape her.
“He told me he wanted to be my Ben 10 and said for my age my body looks firm and he could see I didn’t have sex in a long time.
“I told him I was married to get him to stop, but he just kept on saying he can be my side dip.
“I was so scared he would stop somewhere and rape me. I got my pen out and thought, ‘no, I am not going to be a statistic here today and that if he tries to touch my moemfa [vagina] I am going to stab him’.”
She says as they entered Gatesville, he kept asking for sex and even pointed out an empty veldjie to do the deed.
“I made him stop at another house in Yusuf Gool Boulevard, but then he didn’t want to open the doors. Luckily a relative came along and he realised he had to let me go.
“I reported him to Bolt and will be opening a criminal case.”
Gareth Taylor, manager for Bolt in Southern Africa, confirms they are aware of the incident and condemned the alleged actions of the driver.
“When passengers report a driver for breaching Bolt’s terms and conditions of use, Bolt contacts them to find out whether a genuine mistake has occurred,” he says.
“If an error has occurred, the correct procedures and processes are shared with the driver.
“If the nature of the misconduct is more severe or is being repeated on an ongoing basis, Bolt’s response is escalated, and can result in the driver being blocked permanently from the Bolt platform.”
Taylor says it’s their policy to immediately suspend a driver who is under any form of police investigation.