{"id":814977,"date":"2025-03-03T16:01:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=814977"},"modified":"2025-03-03T16:01:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T14:01:42","slug":"uber-collapse-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/814977\/uber-collapse-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Uber collapse in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Uber faces serious problems in South Africa, including safety concerns, overcharging clients, cancelled trips, and poor-quality cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber was launched in Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town in 2013 and expanded to Durban soon afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial service was Uber Black, where passengers were picked up in Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-series, and Audi A4 cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cars were top-notch, the drivers were professional and well-trained, and Uber offered extraordinary service levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a very efficient, safe, and pleasant way to travel in cities, and many people started to use it as the primary mode of transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when UberX was launched in 2014, offering rides in Toyota Corollas and similar class vehicles, it remained exceptional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under former Uber Sub-Saharan Africa general manager Alon Litz, vetting cars and drivers was core to ensuring comfortable and safe rides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, over the last decade, service levels in South Africa have collapsed, and the safety associated with Uber’s early days has disappeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest complaints is that Uber drivers arrive in dilapidated, unroadworthy vehicles in poor condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am truly disappointed by Uber. The state of the vehicles is unfathomable. I have serious safety concerns,\u201d one South African Uber user explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high standards for Uber drivers are gone. Many don\u2019t use air conditioning, drive on empty tanks, and often don\u2019t follow the road rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of Uber drivers, who spoke to BusinessTech on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that the allegations are true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They explained that they avoid using air conditioning because it is expensive, increasing the fuel cost, and they are not compensated for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They are confirmed service levels have dropped. \u201cAs Uber drivers who make little money, we will not treat our clients well,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrivers are frustrated because of their long work hours and poor earnings. It negatively affects their mental state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They added that they do not feel Uber is listening to their complaints, which ultimately affects how they treat their clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cancelled Uber trips<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A regular complaint is that an Uber driver accepts a trip but never arrives or travels around for so long that the client is forced to cancel the trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Uber client explained that she ordered a ride and was promised to be picked up within 24 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when it took much longer than promised, she cancelled the ride. As a result, she was charged R65.00.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI reserved a ride for my elderly mother to get to the hospital for tests. The driver did not pitch, and there are almost no consequences for drivers,\u201d another user said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another Uber client said they had made a booking in advance for a trip to the Airport. \u201cThe driver just did not show up,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group of Uber drivers confirmed that they accept trips and then cancel them if they do not find them worthwhile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MyBroadband exposed<\/a> how some Uber drivers gamed the company\u2019s airport queuing system by leaving their phones in a room at an e-hailing waiting area overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An appointed person accepted the bookings on their behalf to ensure they remained in the queues, despite not attending to the rider\u2019s requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber riders who cancel their trips because the driver did not show up are then punished with cancellation penalties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber strongly condemned the behaviour, calling it unacceptable and a clear violation of its community guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many similar schemes Uber drivers use to force riders to cancel their trips and face penalties is unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber safety concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Numerous reports on safety problems associated with Uber in South Africa have been published over the last few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Johannesburg resident Kayleigh Marx and a friend were attacked and robbed in an Uber while out in Pretoria. She believes the driver orchestrated the attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police confirmed at the time that it was not an isolated incident. Numerous similar cases were reported in Gauteng.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber said it was very concerned about the situation and has launched an investigation into the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Cape Town resident Cheral-Lee le Roux alleged that her Uber driver orchestrated a suspected kidnapping and assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said the Uber driver would not move at a green traffic light, after which four men entered the vehicle, brandishing knives, and began assaulting her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She told News24 that the driver seemed to be involved in the attack, as it appeared he knew the four men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber South Africa said they were deeply concerned about the incident and that an internal investigation was under way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, radio and TV host Anele Mdoda opened a police case<\/a> against an Uber driver who allegedly harassed her. She posted videos about the ordeal online.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uber said the incident was completely unacceptable and that it was immediately looking into the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere a driver breaches our community guidelines, their access to the platform is immediately removed as the safety of everyone using the platform is a top priority,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Billing concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Numerous Uber users in South Africa have reported higher-than-expected billing and trouble to get their money back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI requested an Uber ride that was quoted at R186. However, during my trip, Uber deducted an additional R124 from my account,\u201d one user said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI checked my Uber app for any explanation of this charge, but there is no record. I have not received any notification or reason for this deduction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have already tried to resolve this with Uber, but I have not received any clear response or refund.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user described a similar experience. \u201cWhen I asked the driver why the price had almost gone up 50% upon reaching my destination, he said it was normal practice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen asked what happens to people paying with cash and not having the extra money, he said they’ll recoup the rest on their next ride.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another user said their ride was quoted as R98. However, Uber deducted twice the amount from their bank account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used Uber\u2019s help option, but the company has still not refunded my money. Even the driver said he saw that the money was paid twice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many more reports of overbilling, drivers taking longer routes to increase charges, and problems getting refunds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uber faces serious problems in South Africa, including safety concerns, overcharging clients, cancelled trips, and poor-quality cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":814985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9878],"tags":[6457,21890],"class_list":["post-814977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-uber","tag-uber-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814977"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":814986,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814977\/revisions\/814986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}