A Durban e-hailing driver allegedly escaped from a hijacked vehicle after passengers forced him out of the driver’s seat, moved him to the front passenger seat and throttled him.
The driver reportedly managed to open the vehicle’s door as it approached Bayview and jumped out. He then flagged down a passing motorist, who transported him safely to his home.
According to the report, the incident began when the driver stopped on Higginson Highway. The suspects allegedly took control of the vehicle after forcing the driver out of his seat.
“The driver stopped the car on Higginson Highway. The suspects forced the driver out, taking over the vehicle. The driver was moved to the front passenger seat where he was throttled by the suspects.
“As the vehicle approached Bayview, the driver managed to open the door and jumped from the vehicle.
“He then flagged down a passing motorist who transported him safely to his home.
“The victim made contact with his employee, and the vehicle was tracked and recovered in Palmer Street in Durban Central,” the report read.
The incident has raised concern among e-hailing operators and drivers, particularly over the risks faced by people working at night and travelling through unfamiliar areas. It has also renewed calls for drivers to use authorised platform trips rather than accepting journeys outside the official booking system.
Council warns against offline trips
Sthembiso Khanyezi, chairperson of the KwaZulu-Natal E-Hailing Council, said the organisation was deeply concerned about criminal activity targeting e-hailing drivers.
“Drivers spend long hours on the road, often operating at night and entering unfamiliar areas, which can expose them to particular security risks.
“The reported circumstances are particularly concerning because the driver alleges that passengers who had requested a trip became involved in the alleged hijacking.
“We therefore urge drivers not to conduct offline trips. Apart from creating safety concerns, an offline trip can make it considerably more difficult for the platform, association, council, SAPS and tracking providers to establish the passenger's identity, trip details, route and other information that may assist an investigation.
“Offline trips remove some of the safety, verification, tracking and reporting mechanisms associated with an authorised platform trip.”
An offline trip is a journey that is not recorded through an authorised e-hailing platform. This may mean that important information, including the passenger’s identity, the route and the details of the booking, is not immediately available to the platform or investigators.
Khanyezi said the amended national transport framework formally recognises e-hailing as a transport service and provides for safety and security measures. These include vehicle identification and panic-button requirements.
He said the council would continue advocating for effective panic-button and emergency-response systems, real-time vehicle tracking and rapid reporting mechanisms for incidents involving e-hailing drivers.
Calls for technology to work in practice
Khanyezi said safety measures needed to function effectively in real emergencies, rather than simply appearing in regulations or policy documents.
“Safety technology must not only exist on paper. Drivers must know how to use it and emergency responses must be sufficiently fast to make those systems meaningful.
“We do not have a statistical database that can accurately state the number of e-hailing drivers hijacked or were victims of crime, and this is an important gap that needs to be addressed.
“We will be looking at establishing a proper industry database to distinguish between e-hailing, driver hijacking, robbery of an e-hailing driver, assault of an e-hailing driver, vehicle theft, passenger-related crime, offline-trip incidents, and online platform trips.
“We are engaging with its local affiliate associations to improve the reporting of incidents and establish a more reliable industry safety database,” Khanyezi added.
The proposed database would allow the industry to record different types of incidents separately. These would include driver hijackings, robberies, assaults, vehicle theft, crimes linked to passengers and incidents involving offline trips.
At present, Khanyezi said, the lack of reliable figures makes it difficult to measure the scale of the threat facing e-hailing drivers or identify the areas and circumstances where they are most vulnerable.
The alleged hijacking has placed renewed focus on the need for drivers, platforms, associations, police and tracking companies to share information quickly when an incident is reported. It has also highlighted the importance of ensuring that panic buttons, vehicle tracking and emergency response systems are available, understood and fast enough to protect drivers in danger.
The vehicle was recovered in Palmer Street in Durban Central after the driver contacted his employee and tracking was activated. The circumstances surrounding the alleged hijacking remain subject to investigation.