Cape Town women ‘assaulted’ by Uber driver, ‘threatened’ by SAPS

Update: Upon request for comment, Uber’s representatives sent Memeburn the following statement.

We are deeply committed to the safety of all who use the Uber app. Immediately upon hearing of any situation involving a rider or driver, Uber takes the necessary steps to investigate the allegation and is in contact with both the rider and driver to offer support.

Uber has an incident response team who are trained to deal with any critical safety issues and works with the relevant stakeholders in order to resolve any incident with a matter of urgency.

We are constantly developing new technologies to ensure safety before, during, and after every ride. This includes tracking all trips using GPS from beginning to end; enabling riders to share their ETA or route; and incorporating feedback from riders and drivers. These product features are available in-app and are in every city we operate in around the world. All of this happens on top of a driver screening process.

As a general point of principle, if there is any allegation of wrongdoing by a driver using Uber they are immediately prevented from accessing the app until an investigation can be concluded.

Original article: A Twitter thread documenting an incident of “assault, attempted murder and abduction” involving Uber South Africa and the South African Police Services (SAPS) is this weekend making the rounds on the social network.

Zuki Lamani, a student and Uber user in Cape Town, recently requested the company’s services to travel from Yours Truly in Bree Street to Saint Lounge in Harrington Street. But after her and her accompanying friends’ boarded the Uber, their night took a turn for the worse.

A string of 20-odd tweets describes the incident from her point of view, involving an Uber driver and eventually the SAPS.

“We ordered an uber from Yours Truly to Saint [sic],” she begins her series of tweets.

“The uber was an avanza because it was XL bc we thought there’d be more than 4 of us [sic].”

When her other friends decided to make alternative arrangements, Lamani and two other friends took the uberXL.

This is where it started. On our way the uber driver went to the opposite direction from the usual way to get to Saint

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

“This is where it started. On our way the uber driver went to the opposite direction from the usual way to get to Saint,” she continues.

The following tweets speak of the driver’s anger after Lamani questioned his choice of route.

‘He then opened his boot and took out a hammer was shouting ‘I will kill you”

He then grew angry, was asked to cancel the trip and drop off Lamani and her friends but he refused.

He was not even following navigation. In my understanding we had every right to ask where he was taking us. So we asked.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

He got SO angry of which we didn’t understand and he was still going about his own way, NOT TO SAINT WHERE WE HE WAS MEANT TO DROP US.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

Out of nowhere the driver asked us to exit his car because we are being “rude” FOR ASKING???

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

So we were like ok shap pls could you cancel the uber so we can call another one without being charged a penalty. HE REFUSED.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

From there, the Uber driver then got out the car with “door locked”.

“He still didn’t cancel the trip and went to speak to another man,” Lamani adds.

Guys it wasn’t even 3 mins and boom about 10+ men were surrounding the car. WHERE DID THEY COME FROM??

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

After seeing the men, Lamani called SAPS for assistance.

“I, MYSELF, SPOKE TO THE POLICE. I requested they pls send policewomen because we are girls and scared,” she tweets.

“Anyway ONE policeman arrived. He was a black guy as old as my dad, I assume,” she continues.

The situation then escalated further.

I lost track but before we called police the uber driver BEAT MY FRIEND. It was like he was fighting with someone his size.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

The Uber driver beat her friend like he was “fighting with some one his size”, Lamani describes.

Lamani then got involved in hopes to defend her friend, but she was also assaulted. The Uber driver then opened his boot and “took out a hammer” shouting “I will kill you”.

To defend Chuma I jumped to stop him then he beat me up so much. 😭 like he beat up and I was so helpless my friends too.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

He then opened his boot and took out a hammer was shouting “I will kill you” (I have voice recordings guys)

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

Phiwo tried to explain everything but he was not paying attention at all. He then left us because he wasn’t gonna waste his time on women

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

Another SAPS vehicle then arrived, but the two police members “DEFENDED” the Uber driver.

Another van arrived, there was a coloured guy and a black woman. We told them everything and the coloured guy DEFENDED the uber driver.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

After the incident took place but before this series of tweets were posted, Lamani also uploaded a two-minute Twitter video of the confrontation with SAPS. This tweet has received over 440 retweets since it was posted.

THESE ARE POLICEMEN THREATENING TO ARREST US AS VICTIMS IN FRONT OF A PERPETRATOR LAST NIGHT. We are still helpless guys. Please help. pic.twitter.com/u1owjB4J4N

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

The police then left Lamani and her two friends with the Uber driver. They “ran to the nearest moving cars and found a cab” which transported them back to university residence.

The police left us. With the same uber driver that assaulted us 😭😭😭 arg mxm. I ran to the nearest moving cars and found a cab.

— Mamfundisi (@Zuki_Lamani) June 2, 2017

Lamani’s following tweets explains her difficulties in reporting the incident to authorities.

Uber South Africa and SAPS comment

Since the above thread was published to Twitter, the two secondary parties involved added their commentary to proceedings.

Uber: ‘Our team has contacted both the rider and driver partner. We’re following up on this and taking the appropriate actions’

Lamani, mentioning South Africa’s minister of police Fikile Mbalula in a number of tweets, finally received a message from the minister. Mbalula in a tweet requested assistance from complaints officer at SAPS Mduduzi Zee Mubiana.

I’ve DMed you and asked SAPS to check the matter. @Sgwazy check on this…

— RSA Police Minister (@MbalulaFikile) June 3, 2017

Certainly not. If you like, please email me on mubiana@saps.gov.za so we can attend to it

— Mduduzi Zee Mubiana (@Sgwazy) June 3, 2017

Mbalula tweeted Saturday afternoon that the “police officers responsible will be held to account”.

“Sorry for what occurred,” he added.

My office has instituted an investigation on this. The police officers responsible will be held to account. Sorry for what occurred. https://t.co/byPgSrfZPt

— RSA Police Minister (@MbalulaFikile) June 3, 2017

Uber South Africa however deemed the incident “completely unacceptable”.

This is completely unacceptable. Please urgently send us the mobile number and email address linked to your account? We’ll be in touch ASAP.

— Uber South Africa (@Uber_RSA) June 2, 2017

“Our team has contacted both the rider and driver partner. We’re following up on this and taking the appropriate actions,” the ride-hailing service added in a later tweet.

Our team has contacted both the rider and driver partner. We’re following up on this and taking the appropriate actions.

— Uber South Africa (@Uber_RSA) June 3, 2017

Past Uber incidents in South Africa

This isn’t the first time Uber has been at the centre of violent confrontations in South Africa.

A number of incidents emerged in 2016 of Uber cutomers reportedly “attacked” and “kidnapped” by Uber drivers across South Africa.

Updating users on the latter incident on Facebook, which involved the arrest of an Uber driver, Uber South Africa published brief guidelines on ensuring safety when using the service.

It’s important to remember the following tips to use Uber safely:

Please remember to always check and confirm all driver and vehicle details before getting into a vehicle, even if the driver claims to be your Uber ride.

Riders should also make use of the technology in the app that allows them to share their driver and vehicle details and their estimated time of arrival with a family or friend.

Law enforcement should always be the first point of contact in the event of an incident.

We’ve reached out to Lamani, SAPS’s complaints officer of the Minister of Police Mduduzi Zee Mubiana and Uber South Africa’s representatives for further comment.