South Africa’s budding delivery bike industry

South Africa’s delivery bike industry is on a trajectory of significant growth, driven by the country’s e-commerce sector expected to reach R400 billion by 2027, Business Times reports.

Businesses that employ lightweight motorbikes for delivery include fast food delivery platforms such as Uber Eats and Mr D and major retailers like Checkers and Pick n Pay.

Woolworths is another retailer that has seen tremendous growth in its delivery service, Woolies Dash.

The company’s South African online food sales performed particularly well, growing by 52.8% and contributing to 5.5% of total South African sales.

Woolworths has attributed this to the increased penetration of its Woolies Dash delivery service. The food and clothing retailer reported that its delivery service has grown by a staggering 71.2% over the 53 weeks.

Shoprite Checkers also reported that its platform had grown significantly in its most recent operational update for the year ending 30 June 2024.

Sales on the platform grew by 58.1% over the course of the year, contributing to the 12.3% sales growth reported by Checkers and Checkers Hyper.

Since deliveries still only account for below 15% of sales from each platform, the industry has much room for growth.

Big Boy Fourways owner Conrad Botha told Business Times that there are roughly 50,000 lightweight motorbikes on South African roads, and this number is expected to double in the next three years.

He noted that he sells roughly 100 per month, which he imports from China.

Because of this untapped market, people like Hero Motorcycles founder and CEO Craig Langton have reached out to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition about the possibility of manufacturing these highly in-demand vehicles in South Africa.

Although it is a prospectively bustling industry, he said a number of kinks need to be ironed out, such as exploitation and unsafe vehicles.

Commercial Transport Academy founder Nicci Scott, who plans to train 300 women a year for the industry, said companies often hire drivers as independent contractors and do not perform the necessary safety checks on their motorcycles.

Therefore, they believe regulation will eventually be necessary for the industry.

Delivery bike chaos in South Africa

MyBroadband recently asked Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay asap!, and Spar2U how they vet their delivery drivers, following comments from Motorcycle Safety Institute of South Africa founder Hein Jonker earlier this month.

Jonker highlighted several concerns about delivery rider training and whether they are licensed to ride in South Africa.

Spar Group’s national PR manager, Mpudi Maubane, told MyBroadband that its extensive recruitment protocol is designed to ensure the highest safety and compliance standards for Spar 2U riders.

“Our process includes rigorous vetting of driver and asset information to meet all legal requirements,” said Maubane.

“For foreign national drivers, we implement additional checks to ensure adherence to Regulation 110 (1) of the National Road Traffic Regulations.”

“Each new recruit undergoes an on-road skill assessment and is paired with an experienced driver for their first week of employment,” she added.

Maubane said Spar is working with the Radah Learning Academy on various initiatives aimed at training South African drivers, with a focus on empowering female drivers.

Checkers-owner Shoprite declined to comment and Pick n Pay has not provided feedback.

Earlier this month, Jonker explained that some riders aren’t local and come from countries where a car licence covers all vehicle classes below that, including scooters and motorcycles.

“In some countries in Africa, if you go for a motorcar licence, anything below that vehicle class you are licensed to ride, be that a scooter or a motorcycle,” said Jonker.

He said they may have never been through a physical test and may not know South African road laws.

“They come to this country with a licence that includes a motorcycle licence, and off they go,” he added.

Jonker said he couldn’t comment on whether local authorities have the capacity to check if all delivery drivers are licenced.

However, he said the respective food delivery services are responsible for ensuring their riders’ safety on the road.

According to Jonker, one way to address these concerns is for law enforcement to collaborate and set up more roadblocks to check riders’ licences.

He also said some food delivery services offer delivery guarantees with time limits on deliveries.

This and the pressure to make as many deliveries as possible to maximise income can contribute to poor behaviour from riders.

“If you put a person under pressure that might not have been riding a motorcycle where he or she comes from under that kind of pressure, something’s got to give,” said Jonker.

He added that riders in a rush compromise on safety aspects of bike riding, such as not securing their helmets.

“Do they take chances through traffic? Yes, they do. So, something gives and when something gives, risk is increased dramatically and then you see things go wrong in traffic,” said Jonker.

He noted that the length of training required for a motorcycle rider to be considered safe on public roads is not extensive.

“Most motorcycle training programmes can last a couple of days, it really depends on if he or she has ridden a bicycle before, if they have a good understanding or comprehension of the rules of the road,” he said.

“I would say a good effective training programme should be about five days, where they can go from range training where there’s no interference of traffic or other elements, to on-the-road training in the environment he or she will be riding in.”