Uber operators fear attacks by meter cab drivers at ORT

Uber drivers say they are experiencing intimidation by meter taxi drivers who see Uber as competitors muscling in on their turf‚ especially at the lucrative OR Tambo (ORT) airport ranks.

Uber is recognised as a taxi operator but not registered in the same way‚ as the service is effectively just a mobile app that connects users in a transportation network.

A lack of knowledge about what the app is and how it operates is allegedly causing conflict between Uber drivers‚ and meter cab drivers‚ as well as Johannesburg Metro Police Depatment (JMPD) officers.

One driver who did not want to be named for fear of repercussions said he was attacked about a month ago outside the arrivals terminal at ORT.

He said he was beaten by meter cab drivers while a client who had just landed in the country was in the car. The client fled fearing for his safety.

According to him‚ the drivers of meter cabs who wait outside the arrivals terminal at the airport do not know what Uber transport is so “when they see us arrive and pick up a client‚ they just attack us‚ they assault us”.

The meter drivers also tried to take and damage the smartphone that he uses to receive Uber requests.

After the attack‚ he went straight to a police station to report the incident. But ‚ he said‚ police also did not understand how Uber works.

He claimed he took police back to the place where he was attacked‚ and said that he was threatened again in front of the officers.

According to the Uber driver‚ the police then accused him of being an illegal operator and lying about the fact that Uber was registered with the transport department‚ especially as it does not belong to any taxi association and doesn’t have any set routes. But the matter was dropped.

He said he reported the incident to his supervisor at Uber‚ whom he knew only as Dave and who promised the matter would be taken up with the relevant taxi associations.

In the meantime‚ he is keeping away from ORT‚ Lanseria and some Gautrain stations‚ which he says are also dangerous for Uber drivers.

Another Uber driver who did not want to be identified recalled an incident last weekend in which he was stopped by a JMPD officer while on his way back to a nightclub after transporting his first set of drunk customers to their home.

He says that the officer complained about the fact that Uber drivers keep drunk drivers off the road and that stops officers from being able to get the bribes and fines that they need.

JMPD spokesman Superintendent Wayne Minnaar‚ who at the time of the conversation did not know what Uber was‚ said that the officers are just doing their jobs.

 “They stop the drivers to make sure that the drivers themselves are not drunk.”

 Alon Lits‚ general manager of Uber Johannesburg‚ said that he could not investigate the matters reported to him because he did not have the drivers’ identities and therefore could not comment on these particular incidents.

 Lits did‚ however‚ confirm that such incidents have been reported to Uber before but said they were “very few‚ very isolated incidents”.

Lits said that Uber Johannesburg was prompt in dealing with complaints from both drivers and clients.

 “We have two customers‚ the people that use the service for transport and our drivers‚” said Lits.

 According to Lits‚ any complaint sent to the Uber Johannesburg’s e-mail address are attended to within 24 hours.