Picture: Paballo Thekiso/African News Agency (ANA Archives) Picture: Paballo Thekiso/African News Agency (ANA Archives)
Cape Town - A podcast documenting recordings of Zimbabwean Uber drivers in Cape Town aims to share a unique insight into the reality these foreign nationals face.
The podcast is known as Uber Share and producer Angelo Louw had a series of conversations with the Uber drivers he travelled with.
Louw said that during his time in Cape Town, he would end up having interesting conversations with Uber drivers who all happened to be from Zimbabwe.
“When the (refugee) protests first started, I realised that a lot of these issues had been bubbling beneath the surface, and that the drivers had spoken about their anxieties and hopes in my recordings,” he added.
Louw said the drivers frequently spoke about feeling vulnerable, and also feared being threatened or harassed by locals in the industry, as well as by authorities because most of them had been waiting for permits from the City for some time.
“These foreign nationals all came to South Africa to make a better life after economic collapse in Zimbabwe. Cape Town was popular because it has a large Zimbabwean population and becoming an Uber driver doesn’t require too much red tape”, he said.
Uber Share aims to provide the public with a deeper insight into what foreign Uber drivers hope to achieve while working in another country.
Eventually, Louw said, everyone will be able find better ways of dealing with xenophobia.
Trymore, whose full name can't be published for fear of reprisal, said racism was one of the main reasons most of his South African friends refused to become Uber drivers, although he believed this was ludicrous given the high unemployment rate in the country.
Trymore said he has not experienced any racism during his time as an Uber driver, and now drives a luxury vehicle which affords him the opportunity to make more money.
Louw said: “One thing that is clear is that everybody is at the mercy of business. Foreign nationals and South Africans alike are left very vulnerable by businesses looking to save a quick buck, and this has made criminals out of people in the pursuit of a dignified life.”
Uber Share podcast can be listened to on podomatic: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/ubershare
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