Bolt will soon launch a food delivery service in South Africa

Ride-hailing app Bolt – formerly Taxify – says it will launch a food delivery service in South Africa “in the coming months”.
Bolt announced its intention to launch a food delivery service worldwide earlier this year, with South Africa one of the first three countries offering the service.
Bolt Food successfully launched in Estonia in August 2019, in Lithuania in November 2019, and is planned to launch in South Africa, Latvia and Finland in the coming months, it said.
The group said that it has doubled its footprint in South Africa since the start of the year, now operating its ride-hailing services in 34 secondary towns and cities across all nine provinces.
Having started operations in South Africa in 2016 in Johannesburg alone, Bolt has grown exponentially year on year, and is now available in more South African urban centres than any other ride-hailing platform, it said.
This includes locations previously unserviced by ride-hailing platforms, such as eMalahleni, Mthatha, Vereeniging, Richard’s Bay, Thohoyandou, Mahikeng and Potchefstroom.
Gareth Taylor, country manager for Bolt in South Africa, said that pilot services were rolled out across several new provincial cities and towns throughout the year, adding that the service will be operational in approximately 40 South African cities and towns once the 2020 roll-out has been completed.
“Bolt’s 2019 strategy focused on launching ride-hailing services in more towns and cities outside of the main centres,” he said.
“Expansion into provincial urban centres gives consumers in smaller cities the opportunity to experience the convenience and affordability of on-demand transport for the first time, and provides significant work opportunities for drivers.”
Bolt’s food delivery services will compete directly with other app-based food delivery apps like Mr D Food and Uber Eats.
Read: Bolt – formerly Taxify – launches travel management product for business in South Africa