[imagesource: Kim Ludbrook / EPA]

It’s not easy being an Uber driver, wherever you operate.

Long hours spent dealing with people, rising fuel costs eating into your profit, and the fact that you’re classified as an independent contractor in South Africa (and many other countries) make it a difficult gig.

The massive Uber Files stories that have broken week, based on more than 124 000 emails, text messages, memos and other records that a former top lobbyist for Uber leaked to The Guardian, have shone a light on the company’s practices.

Journalists from 29 countries joined the effort to analyse the records over a period of four months, including The Washington Post’s Douglas MacMillan.

In particular, he honed in on Uber in South Africa with an article headlined ‘Uber promised South Africans better lives but knew drivers risked debt and danger’.

To illustrate the point, the story first focuses on 44-year-old Shaun Cupido, whose story will be familiar to many drivers:

Uber promised to let South Africans make their own hours and be their own bosses. He rented a car, began ferrying tourists around Cape Town’s waterfront shopping districts and cliffside resorts, and for a while, the money was good…

But little by little, he said, Uber made changes to its service that lowered his pay and raised his risks… Trying to make up the difference, he logged 12-hour days and began driving in the sprawling slums of the Cape Flats, where many drivers were afraid to go.

“Hustling,” as he called it, grew even riskier after Uber began letting passengers in South Africa pay in cash as part of an effort to boost ridership. Cupido heard about drivers getting robbed and attacked, but he trusted his instincts for danger.

He folded a stack of bills inside his wallet and kept working long hours, unaware he was driving straight into an ambush.

Once drivers were committed to working for Uber, policy changes from Uber execs above gradually made it harder to earn money while making their jobs more dangerous at the same time.

Cupido was attacked, with his recovery taking a month, after which he says he was “too scared to drive for a living again”. He lost everything, and despite promises to help, Cupido says Uber wouldn’t even pay for the glasses he broke during the knife attack which sent him to hospital with stitches in his head.

In 2017, two cars operated by Uber drivers were torched in Johannesburg (the picture right up top).

Uber estimates it has 20 000 drivers operating in South Africa and is accused of doing very little to protect them:

Stephan Swart, a former manager for Uber in South Africa who says he was briefed on internal management decisions about drivers from 2015 to 2018, said Uber knew requiring drivers to keep cash would make them more vulnerable to robberies.

Uber rolled out the policy anyway, he said, because managers believed it would appeal to millions of South Africans who lacked credit or debit cards, boosting rides in the country by as much as 30 percent, and helping Uber compete with other forms of transportation, such as traditional taxis, that accept cash.

It’s worth reading the full article here, which further outlines policy changes which have left many drivers living in debt and fear.

Around the world, Uber’s top execs encouraged local managers to set up lucrative incentives for new drivers.

When Uber launched in South Africa, it went as far as to promise some drivers “cash payments to the value of around $400” for signing up.

Once they were signed up, Uber’s commissions were steadily raised and drivers sold on the dream of working for themselves began to struggle to make ends meet.

Business Insider SA with a few more takes from the Uber Files:

Two different documents within the Uber Files show that Uber started to turn a profit in Johannesburg within 14 months of its launch – as of 2015 the fastest city to go from loss to profit outside the United States – and in Cape Town profits came within two years of launch.

Those profits were helped along by an increase in Uber’s commission from 20% to 25%, implemented over the objections of regional and local managers, who urged it would harm drivers, and ultimately the company.

But having gone from offering cash incentives for drivers to sign up, to a waitlist of new drivers, Uber “tapered off most subsidies for drivers in South Africa” by the end of 2015.

The leaks and subsequent investigation have made it a nightmare week for Uber.

A statement from the very top – Jill Hazelbaker, Uber’s senior vice-president of public affairs – pointed to changes the company has made to rectify past errors:

“We have not and will not make excuses for past behaviour that is clearly not in line with our present values. Instead, we ask the public to judge us by what we’ve done over the last five years and what we will do in the years to come.”

In a South African context, Uber provided a short statement from its general manager for Sub-Saharan Africa, Frans Hiemstra:

“Since our South Africa launch in 2013, we have created economic opportunities for thousands of people in South Africa and currently have 20,000 drivers and delivery people earning through the Uber and Uber Eats apps.

Safety is and has always been a top priority for us, and we have invested heavily over the years in technology to help keep drivers and riders safe. Many of these industry-leading safety features are now available in South Africa, including our in-app emergency button and strong rider verification measures.”

Those changes should be applauded.

In the same vein, one of the measures that will most increase the safety of drivers is ensuring they earn a decent wage without having to endanger their lives.

We can play our part, too, by giving a tip to drivers (if you are able to), as this falls outside of the commission that Uber takes off each trip’s fee.

[sources:washpost&businsidersa]