Pretoria - After three days of embarking on a nationwide strike in protest over working conditions and exploitation, e-hailing drivers from Bolt and Uber have called off their strike.
They said they are now waiting for a full report from the government and cars would operate as normal from midnight on Friday.
In a statement on Thursday, Unity in Diversity, which has been representing drivers, informed drivers and operators that there was on-going communication with all the departments where they submitted their memorandums.
Among the demands set out in the memorandum, the community wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to show leadership and political will to regulate the e-hailing industry.
They also want Ramaphosa to compel Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula to engage with them, adding that he “has no appetite to resolve industry problems”.
“We would like to gratefully thank everyone who joined the mass action ... We have fought a good fight comrades and there will be a full report about the results of the strike,” read the statement.
The statement added that drivers can resume work on the 25th.
Earlier, e-hailing spokesperson Vhatuka Mbelengwa spoke to IOL about the latest developments since the break out of a protest this week.
“Today we aren’t gathering, just observing a stay away and de-escalating as a result of concern because of incident reports,” Mbelengwa said.
Since the protests broke out on Tuesday, there were some scenes of violence caught on video, one driver who was caught working during the protest had four wheels of his car slashed, another car was seen with broken windows.
There were also reports indicating that a police officer was also allegedly assaulted after running into a group of protesters who mistook him for a driver.
With petrol prices reaching the R20 mark this year, drivers have expressed concerns about the low profit margins in the industry. App operators reportedly earn 25% of each trip.
IOL