The Fight Against Uber In South Africa

South Africa's modes of transportation are fairly commendable. We have the Rea Vaya a bus transit system in Johannesburg that operates on time, those that utilize it has to be on time so as not to miss it as it work with time schedules with loading units on a card for payments.

Gautrain is a high-speed express rail system that operates between O.R. Tambo International Airport through Johannesburg to Hatfield Pretoria. I could be missing other destinations, but the point is it is a reliable mode of transport in Gauteng.

It's been over a decade since I used the local train, not of high speed like Gautrain but does its part in transportation in the country.

Back onto the road, we have the mini-bus taxis and the maxi taxi cab with the mini-bus taxi being the cheapest on the road which accommodates +- 15 commuters. Maxi taxi cabs are a bit like Uber but have no mobile Application to it.

I did the Uber driver business around 2019, briefly for about 3-4 months which eventually didn't work out for me having to combine my job with Uber.

During my time as an Uber driver one thing, I learned quickly before I get beaten up is never to pick up passengers from taxi ranks because taxi drivers see Uber as a threat to their business. There was a time when I was in a hurry to get home from a mall and I requested Uber at the rank, it became a problem, I chose to walk further on to request Uber but the taxi association members followed me with threats to beat me, I had to settle for the mini-bus taxi that took time to fill up commuters. It was a day I felt I need to get a car ASAP.

I got into a conversation with a Uber driver earlier this week, I explained to him why I stood where he picked me up so as not to get him into trouble. Then he had a story to tell.

He had to drop off a passenger in the maxi taxi cab territory, and before he knew it he was surrounded and asked to get out of the car, he instructed the passenger not to get out. He saw an opening at the rear and reversed, but was closed down by other maxi cab drivers.
One of the two cars blocking the front of him moved in an attempt to block his rear, that was his opening for escape as he drove head-on against the one standing car that eventually gave way to avoid a head-on collision.

Had he obeyed and gotten out of the car, the chances of him walking away without his car consciously are slim. He mentioned that maxi taxi cab drivers are the most dangerous, they take your car and you have to pay a fine of R2500 ($147).

Now the question that comes to mind is, why not take advantage of what Uber has to offer and run the Uber business as well, there is also Bolt which is a Uber competitor that could be utilized instead of waiting for maxi cab passengers which people rarely use these days. There is an opportunity to earn more money here but these guys can't see beyond their noses.

This is a typical stick-in-the-mud attitude of fighting a change that could be utilized for better benefit. We are witnessing a mindset of this kind in the cryptocurrency space as well where some do not see a use for cryptocurrency.

One of the worst states men will find themselves in is fighting against the opportunity right before them.

We owe it to ourselves to make Hive great

Image by @doze

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