Uber collapse in South Africa

After operating in South Africa for over eleven years, Uber is collapsing, with customers reporting problems with driver behaviour, poorly maintained cars, and torpid customer support.

When Uber entered the country in 2013, cars were top-notch, its drivers were professional and well-trained, and Uber offered extraordinary service levels.

Ten years later, the cars are run-down, customers are complaining about unethical and unprofessional driver conduct, and users often experience cancelled trips and other problems.

Consumer complaints site Hello Peter is flooded with posts from disgruntled customers, with a slew of new grievances posted every day.

In addition to complaints about issues like pricing and payments, riders also said their pleas to Uber Support seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Customers also said they were unhappy about how Uber communicated pricing, saying the final fare is often more than what they were quoted in the app.

“Booked a ride for R58. At the end of the ride, I was billed R109,” a user called Lauren said on Hello Peter.

Regarding bad driver behaviour, Uber South Africa’s customers complained about drivers taking trips, then not picking them up or cancelling the trip either.

This forces the rider to cancel if they would like to try to hail another cab, resulting in a cancellation fee being deducted — a portion of which is paid to the driver.

Riders also complained about drivers leaving trips running after dropping them off, significantly increasing the final price.

While it is possible that an inexperienced, poorly trained, or otherwise forgetful driver might accidentally leave a trip running, it is also possible that drivers are doing this deliberately to increase their fares.

Cash customers have also complained that drivers sometimes flag their trips as unpaid, resulting in conflict between the rider, driver, and Uber.

A Hello Peter user called Claude posted a detailed account of his experience with poor driver behaviour on Saturday, 8 February 2025.

“From the start, the driver delayed our trip by standing outside and chatting with someone instead of beginning the ride. When we asked him to leave, he ignored us and continued his conversation,” he said.

“Once he finally started driving, he told us he had no fuel and demanded that we pay him cash upfront. Since we needed to get to our destination, we gave him R100 to fill up his tank.”

Claude and his fellow passenger then noticed that the driver never started the trip in the Uber app.

“Instead, he kept asking us where we were going, even though the destination was clearly listed. We pointed out that the waiting time was increasing and that we would be unfairly charged,” he said.

“At this point, the driver became aggressive, told us to get out of his car, and initially only offered to return R20 out of the R100 we gave him. When we insisted that he return the full amount, he falsely claimed that Uber would compensate us.”

With the customer not backing down, the driver called someone and a security vehicle arrived within minutes.

“After explaining the situation to them, they told the driver that he had to take us to our destination because we had already paid him,” he said.

“On the way, the driver continued to be unprofessional — constantly talking on his phone and even running a red light at Kasselsvlei Road, nearly causing an accident.”

According to the complainant, the driver then tried to apologise after reaching the destination, begging them not to report him.

“After everything that happened — the verbal abuse, dishonesty, and reckless driving — I knew I had to speak up,” he said.

“This experience was completely unacceptable. No customer should have to deal with this level of mistreatment. Uber needs to take strict action against such drivers who exploit passengers, put their safety at risk, and then try to cover it up with false accusations.”

Soweto United E-hailing Association chairperson Thato Ramaila previously told Daily Investor that Uber does not “have a clue what’s needed on the ground”.

Ramaila accused Uber of putting its drivers and riders at risk and failing to engage with concerned partners.

He said the company does very little to protect its drivers against attacks and that Uber’s panic button functionality does not deter criminal activity.

Ramaila confirmed that drivers cancel trips, which can leave users stranded. He explained that some trips don’t make financial sense to drivers.

Drivers also avoid using air conditioning as it increases petrol consumption and eats into their profit margin.

He added that drivers are less conscientious because of deteriorating working conditions and lower income.

“Drivers are frustrated because they have to work very long hours to compensate for the low fees Uber pays,” he said.

Ramaila added that criminals working for Uber are behind many problems, including overbilling for trips and robbing clients.

MyBroadband contacted Uber for comment regarding the large volume of complaints appearing on sites like Hello Peter, but it did not respond by publication.

The company previously said that it has vehicle standards, including quality and age, that drivers must follow as part of the company’s requirements to sign up.

It said it had updated its policy as a guideline for drivers for certain types of rides and extended the vehicle age requirement from a minimum of 5 years to 8 years for all products.

Uber said that while the reasons for cancelling short trips vary, one reason is driver preference, with some focusing their attention exclusively on longer journeys.

Traffic congestion also plays a role in drivers avoiding shorter trips in built-up areas.

It is an issue Uber is working to resolve. “We increased the fares on short trips to make them more attractive to drivers,” it said.

“While we have seen some improvements, we know that more interventions are required to address this.”

Uber added that it continues to be open to discussing with drivers to understand their concerns.