Ayanda Allie, a member of the Gauteng provincial legislature and media personality representing Build One South Africa (BOSA), has challenged the City of Tshwane regarding the widespread harassment of e-hailing app drivers, including those from Uber, Bolt, and inDrive, for allegedly operating without permits.
According to allegations, members of the Tshwane Metro Police Department relentlessly pursue the e-hailing drivers, but the same energy and focus is not given to the new e-hailing service, Wanatu, which made headlines for hiring only Afrikaans-speaking drivers.
On Tuesday, Allie shared a video on social media platform X, where she called out City of Tshwane for targeting the Uber, Bolt and inDrive drivers “who happen to be black”, yet giving a free pass to Wanatu operators.
“Could it be that perhaps law enforcement officers do not know that the predominantly white Wanatu are ferrying passengers for profit and thus also need to have permits? That is highly improbable because Wanatu vehicles are clearly branded,” Allie said in a video shared on X on Tuesday.
“Those vehicles are being driven for purposes of e-hailing, but somehow TMPD has yet to impound a single vehicle belonging to Wanatu. In addition, officials say the e-hailing market is over-saturated which is one of the reasons for the backlog in issuing permits.
“If that is the case, why has Wanatu which launched in October 2024 been permitted to not only operate but to do so without permits? She asked.
In her probe, Allie visited Wanatu offices in Centurion, where an official was unsure what the permit was. The company was in the process of recruiting more drivers in a bid to grow the new e-hailing brand.
The video was widely shared on social media platforms, with some social media users Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya providing questions on the anomaly.
One X user, Reggie_ZAR tagged the mayor, Moya, urging her to sort out the mess.
“We are e-hailing business owners and had to be subjected to the abuse, yet these ones (Wanatu) get free pass? This is discrimination,” the user wrote.
Another user mnumzane wrote: “It’s so sad that our own black government is the one who is oppressing the black drivers …”
Other users also pointed that taxi operators, who violently opposed the traditional e-hailing app services, have been surprising quiet on the emergence of Wanatu.
Other X users tagged ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, as the Tshwane mayor is from his party.
IOL approached the Tshwane Metro Police Department, which denied the allegations of discrimination against the predominantly black drivers.
“As TMPD we are law enforcers and we enforce the law not based on affiliation or race. We deal or treat all who do not comply the same,” said spokesperson, Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tshwane mayor, Moya shared a picture of a TMPD officer standing next to two Wanatu vehicles which were apparently impounded.
Moya said: “Impounding operations by TMPD of Wanatu e-hailing vehicles this morning in Centurion. The drivers were operating without permits. We do NOT discriminate when enforcing by-laws in Tshwane”.
However, some social media users also asked if the Wanatu vehicles would have been impounded without Allie’s intervention.
Others users also urged the authorities to enforce the law regarding unruly minibus taxi operators.
IOL