Across South Africa, incidents of robberies targeting e-hailing drivers have been on the rise.
Just two months ago, concerns were raised by Gauteng politicians after reports emerged that two young men were shot during an attempted robbery of an Uber driver. The driver — a man — felt so threatened while doing his job that he believed it was necessary to keep a firearm in his vehicle for protection.
If a man can feel so unsafe, imagine how tough the profession must be for the few women who decide to become e-hailing drivers? According to World Population Review, South Africa is the most dangerous country to be a woman.
The crime stats from the second quarter of 2024 don’t paint a pretty picture. In that period alone, 957 women were murdered, while over 10 000 rapes were recorded. Violence against women is something president Cyril Ramaphosa termed as a “second pandemic” in 2021.
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So, it is no surprise to find that very few women are visible in the delivery and e-hailing space, where they would find themselves in unknown places with people they don’t know. Simply put, in a country where women are so vulnerable, it makes sense that they would not want to knowingly put themselves in harm’s way.
But, that is what Nthabiseng Nyamane (30-something), Elsie Mngadi (45), and Valerie MacDonald (59) do on a daily basis. IOL spoke to pioneering women to learn more about the challenges they face as women in what is seen as a male-dominated industry.
Nyamane, who delivers parcels and food for Takealot and Mr D and has another 9 to 5 job, said she became a delivery driver as a side hustle in order to make some extra money.
“In this economy we live in, it’s really hard to survive on one salary, so this is my way of trying to supplement my basic salary which I get from my formal employment,” she said.
However, it did come with its challenges. “It’s unsafe, especially when you work late hours. For example, when delivering food to a client who happens to be a male client, anything can happen. Some might try and take advantage, so it’s one of the challenges. Driving around, whether during the day or at night, can be a risk, as a woman, especially when you have the uniform on,” said mother of one Nyamane from Tembisa.
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For Mngadi, she found herself in real danger when she was accosted by two taxi industry men who were unhappy with where she dropped off a passenger.
“I was in Braamfontein when the request came in to pick up two students who wanted to return to res in Auckland Park,” she said. Immediately after the two students got into the car, she was approached by two men, with one of them carrying a golf club.
“They tried to force me out of the car, and told me I picked up in the wrong place. They said, ‘get out of the car. We’re impounding your car and you need to pay R10 000’. After a few minutes going back and forth, I drove away and was able to escape. It was a horrible experience. Because I was in shock, I carried on working. It was only the next morning that I started to think about what really happened.”
Mngadi became an e-hailing driver for Uber and ChaufHER after going through a divorce that left her unable to make ends meet.
Safety is something that MacDonald, who also uses ChaufHER and Uber, as well as Bolt, says she takes seriously. “As a woman, you can’t just pick up a trip. Your sixth sense has to work at 200% because you always need to be aware of what is happening around you. You need to be observant and very aware of what’s happening. When I pick someone up, I will ask myself if I’m safe or not. I also don’t take cash trips on Uber or Bolt. When someone pays cash, they can’t be traced. If you pay using a bank card, that person can be traced if something happens to me.”
MacDonald added she does her best to avoid being on the roads after 7pm. But, despite her age and the issues she faces on a daily basis, she cannot stop working as her recently retrenched husband of 28 years and her university-age children still rely on her income.
Their stories are a powerful reminder that behind every trip accepted and every parcel delivered is a woman making an impossible calculation between risk and survival.
In a country grappling with gender-based violence and economic instability, women like Nyamane, Mngadi, and MacDonald are not just earning a living — they are defying the odds. Their resilience demands more than admiration; it calls for urgent structural changes to make the streets, and the gig economy, safer and more inclusive for all who rely on them.
IOL