Afrikaans Uber tested

MyBroadband recently tested the South African e-hailing service Wanatu and was highly impressed with the overall experience.

Launched in late 2024, the newcomer has been making headlines in recent weeks for its requirement that drivers be able to speak Afrikaans.

The rule intends to ensure Wanatu’s largest target customer base — including Afrikaans-speaking parents who cannot drop off their kids at school themselves — can feel more comfortable conversing in their home language.

The service also emphasises safety, which has been a major concern for users of other e-haling apps in South Africa in recent times.

MyBroadband tested Wanatu by booking a 20km trip on a weekday morning from a business address in Pretoria West to a house in Pretoria East.

We used the Android Play Store version of the app, although it is also available on the Apple App Store and Huawei AppGallery.

From the first page of the app, users can select either Afrikaans or English as their displayed language.

Signing up for Wanatu required creating a password-protected profile with personal details, including a name, surname, ID number, phone number, e-mail address, and a profile photo.

Before we could start using the app, we had to supply a one-time PIN from our chosen contact methods.

Less than five minutes after submitting our details, our user profile was authenticated, and we loaded a bank card to make payments.

When we booked the trip at 08:32, we had two 5-star rated drivers to choose from.

We were presented with their names and high-quality profile photos, car registration numbers, and Wanatu car IDs.

The app also said that both drivers would take roughly 15 minutes to reach our pickup location and that the trip would cost R227.30 with either driver.

The first driver was roughly 6km away, while the second was 11km from our location, so we opted to use the former.

After selecting “Confirm Driver,” the app switched to a 40-second loading screen to give the driver time to accept the trip. He did so in less than 10 seconds.

We were then presented with a map tracking his live location, similar to other e-hailing apps, and an estimated time of arrival of 08:47.

There was also a chat button for communicating with the driver. The screenshots below show some of the app pages.

A glitch, but no major issue

For the first few minutes after the booking, the app showed our driver making progress in our direction.

However, around 08:41, the app strangely reset to its default home page and showed no ongoing trips, with no notification of a trip being cancelled.

We used the “Contact Us” button to call the Wanatu client centre at 08:43 to figure out the issue.

A support agent picked up the phone just as it began to rang. After we explained the issue, they asked that we provide the driver details and Wanatu car number for follow-up with the driver.

At roughly 08:49, the support centre called back and confirmed the driver was still on his way.

Sure enough, the app showed a “Driver has arrived” notification roughly two or three minutes later, and our driver was parked outside.

We got in the car, and after a friendly greeting and handshake, the driver apologised for taking longer to reach us than the app estimated, explaining that the morning traffic through Pretoria Central had been hectic.

The driver also said the app was continuously being updated to fix issues like the one we experienced.

Turning to the vehicle itself, we quickly noticed several interesting gadgets:

• Large dashcam with front-facing and driver-facing cameras, connected with a small solar panel on the dashboard. This supports live video monitoring from the Wanatu control room.
• Secondary wide camera on top of the rearview mirror for viewing passengers in the car.
• Microphone box for recording conversations in the car, primarily for follow-up investigations.
• Hand radio stored in the centre console for quickly communicating with the Wanatu control centre. The device includes a dedicated SOS button on top for flagging emergencies.
• Panic button near the centre of the vehicle’s dashboard for calling armed emergency responders. Wanatu has partnered with Fidelity ADT for its security services.

In addition to the panic buttons in the car itself, the driver and rider’s apps also had large quick-access panic buttons on their main screens during the trip.

Below are images of some of some of the security-focused gadgets and the car itself.

Safe and clean journey

The 20.45km drive to our destination was pleasant, and we felt safe with the driver’s chosen speeds and general respect for road laws.

Another plus was that the car’s interior was pristine and free of unpleasant smells, a welcome change from some of our recent experiences with incumbent e-hailing services.

The vehicles themselves are owned by the company and must be cleaned before handover to the driver on the next shift.

The driver told us he has been very happy with his time at Wanatu and that conversations with customers were a highlight.

Drivers earn a basic salary, unlike Uber or Bolt drivers who are contract workers and only earn money if they make trips.

Wanatu’s shifts are limited to eight hours at a time, the same as the maximum legal number of hours for employees working more than five days a week. Uber and Bolt caps shifts to 12 hours.

Our particular driver had started his shift at 04:00 and said would knock off at 11:00.

He said we were his seventh or eighth customer during the shift and that the service was now recording about 600 or 700 trips daily across its fleet.

It should be emphasised that Wanatu’s business model means it is not as focused on affordability as some other services.

This makes sense considering the company appoint drivers as full-time employees and the additional costs related to security.

The pricing was more comparable to an Uber Black or Bolt Business booking.

We paid R227.30 for the 20.45km trip, excluding the optional tip, compared to the estimated fare costs of R238.17 for Uber Black and R234.00 for Bolt Business for the same trips at the same time.

Apart from fixing the disappearing trip bug, we felt the Wanatu app could benefit from bigger text or at least an option to use bigger text.

Since conducting our test, Wanatu has announced that it has temporarily suspended its services.

The e-hailing company said that Tshwane Metro Police have unlawfully impounded their vehicles and intimidated their drivers. Wanatu said it would be taking the matter to court.

“WANATU-dienslewering is tydelik opgeskort weens die optrede van TMPD deur die onregmatige skut van ons voertuie en intimidasie van ons drywers. Ons gaan HOFTU,” it said.