Metered taxi drivers staged an illegal protest outside the Uber Joburg office in Rivonia on 3 July, and have taken to aggressive intimidation tactics on Uber drivers and riders at various flashpoints around the city.
Since the introduction of Uber to Johannesburg in August 2013, metered taxi drivers have been put increasingly out of pocket by what they perceive to be unfair competition from the ‘cheeky young upstart’.
“Uber is not a taxi service,” said general manager of Uber Joburg, Alon Lits. “Uber is an app. A cashless, on-demand, private driver service that connects Uber-approved drivers with members of the public who use the service for transport.”
Clients open an Uber account and can hail a driver anywhere, anytime, from their cellphone. Payment for rides is automatic through the app. Flat rates apply. There is no need to tip. Uber drivers get paid weekly by Uber.
Drivers get 80 per cent of their earnings, and Uber takes 20 per cent.
“I’ve been using Uber for over a year,” said Uber rider, Michelle Paine. “I live in Centurion and work in Randburg. I use Uber to get to and from work every day, and for any social engagements. Until Sunday evening, I never had a single bad Uber experience.”
At around 5.45pm, Paine was waiting for her Uber driver outside the Sandton Gautrain Station. He asked her to meet him outside the Radisson Blu Gautrain Hotel instead. When she went to open the passenger door, she was violently shoved from behind by a man and fell to the ground. She thought she was being mugged. She managed to get up and run away. Her attacker then tried to open the car door, but the driver managed to pull away. Shaken, Paine phoned her driver back and he told her to meet him down a deserted cul-de-sac. “It was dark, and I was terrified,” said Paine.
“Because Uber cars are unmarked, people wonder how the metered taxi guys know which cars to target. I believe they hang around popular collection points, like Gautrain stations and airports, and monitor people waiting for their rides. They can see them checking the app on their phones, so when a car pulls up to collect them, they know it’s an Uber car.”
“I used to catch metered cabs, but they are just so expensive. A metered cab cost me R250 for an 8km trip, Uber costs me just R85 for that same trip. I spend around R4 000 a month on Uber, which is cheaper than owning and driving my own car. Up until now, I always thought it was completely safe and convenient. But now I am seriously considering buying my own car.”
Have you been a victim of or witness to an ‘Uber attack’? Did you report it to a police station?
