Cape Town - Residents making use of e-hailing services can breathe a sigh of relief as prices drop after a three-day nationwide strike by drivers.
Users of the mobile apps Bolt and Uber were left flabbergasted as prices skyrocketed on Monday, days before payday.
However, the strike has been called off and e-hailing services resumed on Friday.
E-hailing services are now awaiting a response from government after they handed over a memorandum outlining their grievances.
On Thursday, e-hailing services representative Unity in Diversity informed drivers and operators that communication around their memorandum was ongoing.
The memorandum called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to show leadership, and the political will to regulate the e-hailing industry, and stopping the exploitation of app companies to drivers and operators.
It also wants Ramaphosa to compel Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula to engage with the industry after failing to receive a response from his office after previously handing over two memoranda.
It said Mbalula was, ‘non-responsive to industry calls to engage and has no appetite to resolve industry problems’.
National spokesperson for e-hailing services, Vhatuka Mbelengwa expressed gratitude to South Africans for their support during the strike and apologised for disruptions in lives impacted during this period.
“It was not an easy approach but certainly one we deemed necessary in order to alert society to the exploitative unsafe nature brought about by Uber and Bolt within South Africa.
“We believe our action has certainly been impactful and this is affirmed by the support we now enjoy from the mighty COSATU and its affiliate organisations,” Mbelengwa said.
He added that while there had not been any systemic changes as yet, they were now better equipped to advocate for the much needed regulations they had been pleading government to implement.
robin.francke@inl.co.za
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