The South African Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) has called on the taxi industry to implement consequence management on members who attack Bolt and Uber drivers.
The trade union federation said SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) and National Taxi Alliance (NTA), as the shareholders of the e-hailing company Shesha must discipline and permanently block those Shesha drivers who are intimidating, harassing and extorting money from Bolt and Uber drivers.
According to Saftu, the intimidation and harassment of drivers and passengers in other e-hailing platforms stems from them not using Shesha.
Call for government to act
On Tuesday Saftu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi issued a statement calling for action. He requested government to protect Uber and Bolt drivers and passengers from intimidation, harassment, extortion and violence.
Recent reports say Bolt and Uber drivers have been barred from dropping passengers at certain malls.
Uber and Bolt drivers are allegedly subjected to unlawful fines if found in these places. The fines range between R1,500 to R15,000.
“This conduct is not acceptable and must be condemned. It prevents the drivers of Bolt and Uber from enjoying their constitutional rights (enshrined in section 22) to freely trade. It is also endangering their lives.
“Their conditions of trade must only be regulated by the state, not by other individual agents,” said Vavi.
Extortion, animosity must end
He said the new phenomenon of animosity by domestic e-hailers must be addressed. Their animosity towards drivers who use foreign-owned e-hailing platforms must be nipped in the bud. This must be done with swift intervention by the government’s law enforcement agencies, he said.
“The police must act swiftly and seriously to investigate these incidents, arrest and imprison the perpetrators.”
Saftu said Shesha must win the market by cheapening their products. They must alsovb improve the quality and safety of their rides.
“Even if they convince drivers to move to Shesha, as long as passengers, who are the consumers of the riding services, are not satisfied with the price and quality of the service, they will not automatically migrate to Shesha.”
The union further said government needs to enforce its laws to protect its liberal constitution.
Stakeholder company would be a solution
“Free market capitalism dictates that sellers and buyers must freely exchange; drivers their labour power. Passengers [must exchange] their money and app owners their app platform.
“The law of capitalist competition, of a perfect market, is about winning the customer to buy your product. It is not [about] forcing customers to consume your product. Government should contemplate stepping into the e-hailing space to establish a publicly owned company. A company which it should …underwrite by its force of police and financially. This to make ride-hailing more affordable and safer.”
