In a significant legislative development, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Transport, Chris Hlabisa, confirmed that the signing into law of the National Land Transport Act (NLTA) has empowered the transport minister to introduce essential safety and regulatory measures for e-hailing services, including Uber, Bolt, and InDrive.
Hlabisa emphasized the focus on rigorous law enforcement to ensure smooth implementation of the new measures and resolve conflicts between e-hailing services and traditional taxi associations.
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Ashif Black, Business Development Specialist for Africa at InDrive, also welcomed the new law and highlighted the importance of collaborative efforts to improve safety across several areas. “These include strengthening government regulations and enforcement efforts, encouraging the reporting of unsafe situations, developing and promoting safety education programmes for both drivers and passengers, and leveraging technology to enhance safety features within e-hailing apps,” Black stated.
Threats and intimidation
Black also expressed optimism that the NLTA would help end threats and intimidation directed at drivers by those in the traditional transport sector. He noted that the requirement for drivers to obtain permits would ensure competency. He said that InDrive was eager to collaborate with the Department of Transport to craft additional safety regulations for ride-hailing services under the new Act.
Passenger safety
The NLTA is also expected to bolster passenger safety. Brigadier Arikum Veeshani from the South African Police Service (SAPS) reported a noticeable increase in incidents where e-hailing service users and drivers have fallen victim to robberies or hijackings. She said that unregulated pickups that bypass app bookings complicate the tracing of drivers and vehicles.
Veeshani highlighted significant safety concerns for women, citing numerous reports of sexual assaults that are difficult to investigate due to insufficient driver information. Theft and extortion have also been issues, with passengers being threatened or extorted for money to retrieve left-behind items.
To combat these problems, Veeshani recommended that passengers take photos of the vehicle’s registration and driver’s details and, if possible, screenshot their ride requests. She stressed the importance of regulatory compliance in verifying driver credentials, as many drivers are foreign nationals with fraudulent documents.
In-app features
According to Black, InDrive has several features to assist police in investigating reported crimes. These include driver verification through rigorous background checks, real-time tracking of rides, an in-app emergency button for quickly alerting authorities or designated contacts, and storing detailed driver and vehicle information accessible by law enforcement. Additionally, InDrive maintains a comprehensive history of all rides, including timestamps and route information, a two-way rating system for safety and compliance feedback, and secure in-app communication between drivers and passengers to document interactions useful in investigations.
“Prevention is, of course, better than cure,” Black noted. “This requires a collaborative effort. Operators have a responsibility to educate drivers and passengers on how to stay safe,” he concluded.
