Uber and Wanatu crackdown in South Africa’s capital

A political storm is brewing over the City of Tshwane (CoT) impounding Bolt, InDrive, and Uber drivers’ vehicles for having no road carrier permits, despite these documents not currently being issued.

The city’s enforcement approach evoked a strike by the E-hailing Partners Council (EPC) on 23 January 2025.

Gauteng Provincial Legislature member Ayanda Allie, a member of the Build One South Africa party, has hammered on the problem in the past few weeks.

Allie spoke to several e-hailing drivers who have complained that the Tshwane Metro Police Department has intensified the impounding of their vehicles if they don’t have road carrier permits since late 2024.

Amendments to the National Land Transport Act that came into effect in June 2024 added e-hailing as a subcategory of metered taxis.

The changes enable and require e-hailing drivers in South Africa to obtain road carrier permits for legally transporting passengers in exchange for payment.

The move was largely welcomed by e-hailing operators, drivers and associations, who embraced the need for increased regulation in the industry, particularly with regards to safety.

However, the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has stopped issuing permits for e-hailing permits indefinitely, citing a two-year backlog in processing applications.

The EPC alleged that the department had only issued licences for 9,000 out of 30,000 applicants, with the remaining still under consideration.

“This shows that e-hailing operators are keen to comply,” the EPC insisted.

E-hailing drivers also told Allie they wanted to comply and had already obtained all the other documents to prove they could operate safely and legally.

According to Allie, the Gauteng regulatory entity has asked the city to be lenient with permitless e-hailing drivers who can produce proof of application, such as a slip.

However, Allie said these drivers were still having their vehicles seized, including in large-scale operations such as roadblocks set up in areas with a lot of e-hailing activity.

While Tshwane’s website states the release fee for an impounded vehicle is R1,893, Allie alleged that the drivers are paying between R3,000 and R6,000 to get their cars back.

With no recourse for becoming compliant and intensified TMPD enforcement, they run the risk of having their car impounded again.

“We know that the impounding of e-hailing vehicles is a lucrative source of revenue for Tshwane, but the city cannot continue prioritising profit over people,” Allie said.

Wanatu drivers also without road carrier permits

Allie has also learnt that newly-launched Afrikaans e-hailing app Wanatu operates without permits for transporting passengers.

During her interviews with other e-hailing drivers, Allie bumped into a driver from Wanatu, who said he did not have a road carrier permit.

Allie followed up with Wanatu CEO Judith van der Walt, who allegedly said she was unaware that the company’s drivers required road carrier permits.

While she took no issue with the service itself, Allie has questioned why Tshwane was applying double standards in its enforcement against drivers of the different services.

“Our issue is not necessarily with Wanatu, at least not right now,” she said. “They operate as they’ve been allowed to operate.”

“Our issue is with a biased TMPD that impounds the vehicles of some and not others — for the same offence. They discriminate, for reasons best known to them.”

Tshwane hits back

Tshwane roads and transport MMC Tlangi Mogale has labelled Allie’s complaints over the permits issue and impounding as “misinformation” and insisted the city was working to assist e-hailing operators requiring intervention.

She also alleged that the TMPD had impounded one Wanatu vehicle.

“They sent their lawyer to come and make representations to try and get the vehicle released,” said Mogale.

“He could not succeed as he was told that the vehicle didn’t have an operating licence.”

Mogale also alleged that the metro had only become aware of Wanatu’s activities in the last week of January 2025.

However, Allie disputed this argument, as Wanatu was launched in October 2024, and its 50 vehicles are all company-owned and clearly branded, which would make them even easier to identify than those used by Bolt, InDrive, or Uber drivers.

Mogale also accused Wanatu of only recruiting “Afrikanner speaking” drivers, a practice the metro deemed unacceptable.

It appears that Mogale conflated the cultural identity of Afrikaner, most commonly adopted by white people, with the language of Afrikaans.

Wanatu has no requirements for drivers to be Afrikaners — they must only be able to speak Afrikaans.

Most Afrikaans speakers in South Africa are not Afrikaners or white people.

MyBroadband asked Wanatu for comment on whether it had applied for obtained road carrier permits, but the company had not responded by the time of publication.

Subsequent to our queries, it temporarily halted its services.

“Wanatu services are temporarily suspended due to TMPD unlawfully impounding our vehicles and intimidating of our drivers,” the notification stated.

The company said it would be going to court over the issue. “Ons gaan HOFTU,” it said in Afrikaans.