{"id":833151,"date":"2025-07-28T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=833151"},"modified":"2025-07-28T09:06:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:06:27","slug":"mother-of-all-uber-shutdowns-to-hit-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/833151\/mother-of-all-uber-shutdowns-to-hit-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother of all Uber shutdowns to hit South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The National E-Hailing Federation of South Africa (NEFSA) has warned that e-hailing drivers are preparing for a national strike over working conditions in South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the message from Elijah Uhuru Lekgowane, President of NEFSA, who has confirmed that a national e-hailing strike is imminent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This comes shortly after e-hailing drivers in Johannesburg said they were planning a shutdown<\/a> this month to protest ongoing issues such as Uber\u2019s commission percentages and unprofitable fares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers warned that people who use services like Uber and Bolt in Johannesburg should organise alternative transport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers have reportedly said the strike will continue until their grievances are heard and their pricing demands are met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prices and commissions on e-hailing platforms have been a long-standing issue, with drivers organising regular protests for higher pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, drivers across the country are preparing to protest against what they describe as exploitative conditions and unfair treatment by e-hailing companies and the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

E-hailing services form a huge part of the transport landscape in and around our cities. They\u2019ve become a key way to move, whether shopping, visiting friends, or getting home safely after a night out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lekgowane explained<\/a> that more and more South Africans are turning to these services because buying and maintaining a vehicle is simply unaffordable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, despite their growing importance, e-hailing drivers say they are being pushed to the brink. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We\u2019ve seen a 35% slashing of fares since 2016, and now drivers are being deactivated without due process,\u201d Lekgowane said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn top of that, the platforms are phasing out vehicles older than five years, even if drivers still owe money to the banks on those cars. It\u2019s completely unreasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Lekgowane, NEFSA has been organising behind-the-scenes coordination of this action at a national level, which marks a shift from past protests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPreviously, provinces and regions would protest on their own. This time, we are consolidating our efforts nationally. The mother of all protest actions is about to hit the country\u2014sooner rather than later.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drivers can’t continue under the current circumstances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He added that NEFSA\u2019s demands are clear and urgent. “We\u2019re calling for a restructuring of the pricing index. That\u2019s central,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re also demanding an immediate stop to the deactivation and harassment of our drivers, especially when they go on strike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of our members have already received emails threatening them with deactivation just for participating in a legal protest.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another critical issue is the forced phasing out of vehicles from the platforms. Lekgowane said the policy must stop immediately. Many of our drivers are still locked into financial agreements for these vehicles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NEFSA is also directing strong criticism at the South African government. \u201cOur government seems to be conniving and conspiring with these companies,\u201d Lekgowane said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked when the strike will take place, Lekgowane said a national coordinating committee meeting is scheduled to take place soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re bringing all the provinces together to plan the action. At the moment, we can\u2019t say the strike will happen tomorrow, but what I can guarantee is that national action is coming,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight now, we are running a charity and can\u2019t afford it anymore. We are saying to the app companies: if we can\u2019t make earnings, you can\u2019t make a profit. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lekgowane stressed the real-life impact of the current conditions on drivers. \u201cYou see drivers sleeping in their cars at 02h00, waiting for work, so that they can put food on the table. This has become a major problem. Something has to change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National E-Hailing Federation of South Africa (NEFSA) has warned that the mother of all protest actions is about to hit the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":814983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[13866,23238,6457],"class_list":["post-833151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-bolt","tag-the-national-e-hailing-federation-of-south-africa-nefsa","tag-uber"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833151","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\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833172,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833151\/revisions\/833172"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}