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A Cape Town woman told the chilling story of how an e-hailing driver tried to rob and kidnap her.

One night recently, before midnight, the 21-year-old lady had finished work and had requested a trip home to Mitchells Plain with the e-hailing service InDrive. Little did she know that she would be in for a traumatising ride.

“Everything was perfectly fine, calm, and we had a nice conversation about cars,” she said via IOL, noting that he appeared like a “normal guy”, which she recognised later as a possible tactic to build trust.

Things started getting weird when the driver started driving really slowly. When she asked him why, he reasoned that he “was doing an experiment to see how long his petrol was going to last and how many trips he would make with it”. That’s when he suddenly stopped off the N1 for fuel.

“He stopped the car and then went to the back seat where my bags were, and I moved them to the front where I was. He took out the petrol handle and then put it in his tank for a very long time. I suspect he was waiting for a partner.”

Finally, they were back on the road, headed home, but again, things got spine-tinglingly uncomfortable:

“Eventually, we left and then he stopped in front of my house and made a U-turn and drove past my house slowly. He told me he was going through a tough time and he wanted my phone.

“I started panicking and thought that I can’t lose my phone because I work with it. I sign up people with my phone. How would I make money if the phone is gone.”

The woman said she tried to bribe him with extra money, but he was not interested and started driving faster. Thinking on her feet and acting in her best interest, the woman said she grabbed her things and jumped out of the moving car.

Luckily she was close to home and was able to scream for her mother, who came rushing out with the rest of the family in tow to chase the driver away into the night.

The woman reported the incident to the police and the e-hailing company. The InDrive Africa spokesperson Lineo Thakhisi told the Cape Argus the company placed a significant emphasis on safety:

“Only those drivers who have been registered and have verified documentation are allowed to use the application. In the event of a safety-related incident, inDrive carries out a thorough investigation. If required, the company may also offer resources for mental health support.

“To prioritise passenger safety, the InDrive App includes a weekly photo verification security check, which guarantees that only the authorised driver is using the application.”

We would be remiss to demonise the whole of InDrive for this one unfortunate incident because we know that these sorts of situations have unfolded in Ubers and Bolt cars, too.

InDrive’s investigation found that the driver had transferred his profile to a third party who might have been involved, and have since blocked all parties involved.

“Should the victim decide to pursue legal action with law-enforcement, we stand ready to provide all necessary information to support her case.

InDrive provides 24/7 support service to users, who can contact them via their in-app support chat or email.

We are glad this woman is safe and sound now, albeit traumatised.

[source:iol]