A group of around 500 e-hailing drivers from Bolt, Uber and InDrive shut down their e-hailing apps this morning to gather outside the Alexander Magistrate Court.
The drivers are protesting bail being granted for the alleged killers of Bolt driver partner Euston Mnguni.
In early March, 28-year-old Mnguni was shot four times after being hijacked by criminals masquerading as riders, whom he had picked up at Glen Austin in Midrand.
He was a University of Johannesburg law graduate who worked for the e-hailing firm on a part-time basis, to raise funds for his honours degree, which he planned to do next year.
The bail hearing for five suspects linked with the killing of Mnguni is expected to take place this afternoon, after last week’s hearing was postponed due to their lawyer not being present.
According to the late driver’s brother, Melithemba Mnguni, who is also secretary-general of the e-Hailing Partners Council, the aim of today’s protest is not only to keep the suspects behind bars, but also to alert authorities and e-hailing stakeholders of the risks and dangers of driving for Estonia-headquartered e-hailer Bolt.
“We want to submit a petition urging the court that no bail should be granted for Euston Mnguni’s [alleged] killers. They have previous convictions and pending cases of hijacking, murder and house robbery. Based on the above, they don’t deserve to be out in the community,” Mnguni tells ITWeb.
“They are repeat offenders and they will continue to harm more drivers in the e-hailing industry. There have been too many Bolt drivers who have lost their lives; one death on the platform is one too many. This pattern must be stopped immediately.”
Last week, Mnguni spoke to ITWeb, urging Bolt to beef up driver security on its app, noting the in-app SOS service is “useless” when it comes to saving lives during a crime incident.
According to Mnguni, more stringent verification of customer on-boarding processes, such as facial recognition tools like that of the new BozaRide e-hailing app, are required.
He also recommends connecting riders’ Bolt profiles to their social media accounts, to ensure their accurate identity is stored.
Mnguni also started an online petition, urging e-hailing drivers and the community at large to participate in today’s protest. The petition was signed by 1 142 people by the time of publishing.
“We are doing very well so far, but it’s not yet uhuru. Let's keep pushing and deliver the change we deserve. Safety and security are our human right and so is justice. Without consequences, criminals will continue to terrorise us with impunity,” he writes in the petition.
According to Mnguni, arrests of the five suspects took place almost four weeks after the incident – in Kaalfontein and Ivory Park – where the hijacked car was also recovered.
Mnguni says he has not been happy with the South African Police Service’s investigations into the crime, as he had to play a crucial role in getting the suspects apprehended in the first place.
“I am the one who used the ‘Find My Phone’ application to trace my brother’s killers. And I had to urge the police investigating the incident to go with me to the shebeen where they were later found and arrested. That’s how they were nailed.
“Also, the car was found after I posted a picture of the vehicle and urged the Twitter community to help us in searching for the stolen vehicle. One person replied to my post and told me where he had seen the vehicle. That’s how it was recovered,” he says.
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