Big ride-hailing shake-up coming in South Africa

Ride-hailing companies in South Africa eagerly await the National Land Transport Amendment bill to be signed into law, which will help iron out bylaws impeding their operations.

Once it is law, the sector will be recognised as distinct from other private transport services in the country. The bill was revised and passed by parliament on 7 December 2023.

Speaking to TimesLive, Bolt’s senior regional public policy manager, Weyinmi Aghadiuno, said the legislation is critical to allowing ride-hailing services to operate unhindered.

“The law will give recognition to the e-hailing sector. Because where we are right now is on borrowed regulation; we are likened to taxi services,” said Aghadiuno.

“All the legislation that governs the sector is borrowed from existing taxi laws.”

The bill was introduced in 2016. However, President Cyril Ramaphosa sent it back to parliament in 2021 over concerns about its constitutionality.

Aghadiuno said Bolt was allowed to attend various sessions to share its proposed amendments to the legislation.

“So we have been able to share and give understanding to the department of transport on what the verticals are like, what the e-hailing sector is like, our mode of operations and everything has been explained,” she said.

One of the significant threats to ride-hailing services’ operations in South Africa is run-ins with South African taxi drivers.

In June 2023, violence between taxi and ride-hailing drivers at the Maponya Mall in Soweto and Protea Glen Mall left at least three people injured and four ride-hailing vehicles destroyed.

Video of the clashes shared on social media showed men hitting each other and the vehicles.

There were also clips showing multiple cars engulfed in flames and where gunshots could be heard in the background.

Shortly after the incidents, the Soweto United E-hailing Association and the Soweto Taxi Association agreed that ride-hailing drivers would not pick up or drop off shoppers at any malls in Soweto for three months.

The two unions came to the compromise during a meeting at the Kliptown police station on 7 June 2023.

Gauteng MMC for transport, Kenny Kunene, confirmed the compromise that same day. However, his take on the outcome differed slightly from the Soweto United E-hailing association.

Kunene said that the e-hailing representatives had agreed that their drivers would not enter shopping mall parking lots but wait to pick up passengers outside their gates.

However, drivers transporting the elderly and people with disabilities would be exempt from this rule.

Kunene said the “ban” would only last until Friday, 9 June 2023. However, the Soweto United E-hailing Association said an agreement was already in place until September 2023.

E-hailing drivers accused the Soweto Taxi Association of being behind the mall attacks, adding that taxi owners accuse ride-hailing drivers of “stealing” business.

However, Kunene alleged that rogue operators who impersonate ride-hailing drivers — nicknamed “maphele” (Sotho for “cockroaches”) — were to blame.