Electronic hailing operators say they are willing to sacrifice their livelihoods for the next three days to get government to address their concerns about security and fees.
Hundreds of e-hailing drivers submitted a memorandum of demands to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, calling for the industry to be regulated.
E-hailing drivers call for industry to be regulated
The operators have embarked on a three-day national shutdown. They want mechanisms in place to prohibit unfair business practices, for the app companies to stop determining prices on behalf of operators, as well as safety features such as monitored dash and passenger seat cameras.
Spokesperson for the operators, Vhatuka Mbelengwa says a lot of crime in the industry can be prevented if it’s regulated.
“You are looking at a situation where all you need is a smartphone; sim card and data and you can request, and criminals can do this daily. They request vehicles, steal our cell phones, steal our cars, they hijack our cars and keep someone locked somewhere and commit crimes using that person’s profile. If there were proper security processes to regularly check that who is the driver, these could be prevented but these protocols are not adhered to, they are not implemented,” says Mbelengwa.
