Johannesburg, South Africa – November 30, 2025 – In the bustling streets of Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, Uber and Bolt drivers navigate not only heavy traffic but also a growing wave of criminal activity that exploits the very platforms meant to provide them with safe, flexible income. Reports from 2024 and 2025 reveal a pattern where criminals manipulate ride-hailing apps to orchestrate hijackings and robberies, turning everyday pickups into deadly traps. South African Police Service (SAPS) data for the 2023/24 financial year indicates that aggravated robberies, including carjackings, accounted for 66% of all reported kidnappings nationwide, with 44% occurring during hijackings. In Gauteng alone, nearly 80% of kidnappings were linked to hijackings or other robberies, underscoring the heightened risks for e-hailing operators.
The modus operandi often involves criminals creating fake profiles or hijacking existing driver accounts to lure unsuspecting drivers to isolated locations. In one documented case from February 2025, a Bolt driver in Johannesburg was kidnapped by assailants who forced him into the trunk of his own vehicle. The criminals then used his phone and app to accept ride requests, targeting passengers in areas like Braamfontein and Yeoville. They robbed two students before police, alerted via a secondary phone hidden on the driver, intercepted them on Louis Botha Avenue and Rockey Street. The driver remained confined in the trunk during the arrests, highlighting the prolonged terror endured by victims.
This tactic has proliferated across major cities. In Cape Town’s Nyanga township, SAPS issued warnings in 2024 about hotspots where female accomplices summon rides, only for armed groups to hijack drivers upon arrival. Bolt’s country manager, Gareth Taylor, confirmed an increase in such incidents, noting that robbers sometimes drive away with the driver still inside the vehicle. Similar patterns emerged in Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, where in January 2025, an e-hailing driver shot and killed one of three teenagers attempting a hijacking. Police investigations linked the group, aged 13 to 16, to multiple Uber and Bolt robberies in the area, including one case involving unlicensed firearms.
National crime statistics from the last quarter of 2023 through the first quarter of 2024 show Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban ranking among the world’s most dangerous cities for carjackings, aggravated robberies, and murders. E-hailing drivers, many of whom are older gig workers, face disproportionate threats due to their reliance on smartphones and vehicles as primary assets. A 35-year-old driver named Tebogo Nkwe reported two hijackings in 2024: the first in March on the outskirts of Eldorado Park, where four men stripped him of all possessions, and the second in Snake Park while waiting for a client. These experiences prompted Nkwe to obtain firearm competency certification and purchase a gun in January 2025 for self-defense.
In Soweto, 22-year-old university dropout Siyamthanda Zwane faced a brutal attack in early 2025 after accepting a Bolt ride. Hijackers beat him, stripped him naked, and dumped him at an abandoned mine, seizing his white Suzuki vehicle purchased to fund his new life in Johannesburg. Zwane’s case exemplifies the economic devastation: victims often lose not just vehicles but also insurance claims, forcing many to borrow or buy replacements. Single mother Mercy Shiburi, who entered the industry in December 2024, mitigated risks by restricting services to trusted clients at malls and airports, but she acknowledged the constant fear permeating the sector.
The exploitation extends to app verification flaws. Uber introduced real-time ID checks in recent years, requiring drivers to submit selfies before accepting rides to match against profile photos, aiming to deter criminals using stolen credentials. However, gaps persist. In August 2024, a group of boys aged 13 to 16 was arrested in Eldorado Park for a spate of hijackings using Uber and Bolt apps, demonstrating how minors access and abuse the systems. Broader regulatory delays exacerbate the issue; the National Land Transport Amendment (NLTA) Act, signed in May 2024, mandates stricter licensing and safety protocols for e-hailing services, but implementation stalled until October 2025. The South African National Taxi Council (Santaco) highlighted a “disturbing rise” in hijackings, abductions, and sexual harassment tied to unregulated operations.
Driver responses have evolved into organized self-protection. In Johannesburg’s Kwathema Township, east of the city center, ride-hailing operators formed self-defense groups following a series of deadly attacks reported since 2022. Tshepo Ntshangase, a Bolt driver, described rushing to his Hyundai Accent in July 2022 amid late-night hijacking alerts, a fear that persists into 2025. These groups share real-time alerts on WhatsApp about suspicious requests, such as those to high-risk areas or from unverified profiles. In October 2024, the murder of a Bolt driver in Johannesburg prompted widespread calls for governmental intervention, with peers expressing fears of retaliation even at court proceedings.
Strikes underscore the desperation. In September 2024, Uber and Bolt drivers in major cities halted services to demand user verification systems, allowing pre-ride identity checks to prevent lures to secluded spots. Muggings, hijackings, and kidnappings have become routine, with SAPS recording 22,735 carjackings in the 2023/24 year—63 per day and a 78% increase over the decade. Truck hijackings, at 1,976 cases, declined slightly but rose 54.5% in the same period, signaling a broader vehicular crime surge affecting gig workers.
Platform acknowledgments vary. Bolt suspended 6,000 South African drivers in June 2024 for misconduct, including cases like a May 2024 stabbing in Cape Town over a drop-off dispute. Uber expressed concern over similar incidents, launching investigations into reported attacks. Yet, drivers like Nkwe and Shiburi report that features such as SOS buttons offer limited protection against coordinated gangs. In a February 2025 Gauteng incident, two young men were shot during a failed Uber robbery in Eldorado Park; one died, the other was hospitalized, illustrating the escalating violence.
As e-hailing grows—projected to contribute to R130 billion in e-commerce turnover by 2025—the human cost mounts. Zwane’s stolen Suzuki represented more than transport; it was his pathway out of unemployment. With 25 courier hijackings reported daily in September 2024, experts warn of spillover effects on delivery drivers using similar apps. SAPS and transport authorities urge reporting all incidents, but underreporting persists due to distrust in police efficacy. For now, South Africa’s ride-hailing drivers steer through a landscape where every ping could signal peril, their resilience tested daily against a criminal ingenuity that preys on technological convenience.
