Uber SA goes on charm offensive, celebrates UberHeroes

Uber South Africa wants you to know that its partner drivers aren’t just drivers, they’re heroes. No seriously, the app has released a video showing off some of the most inspiring stories to have emerged from those partner drivers since its South African launch.

Accompanying the video is a blog post explaining how it has benefited individual drivers and their families.

The examples come from each of the three cities it currently operates in (Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg) and include a former security guard who now employs five other drivers, as well as a driver who was able to save the life of a little girl, by getting her and her mother to hospital in the nick of time.

Read more: Uber’s SA strife: while taxis threaten and government waits, everyone loses

The video is very obviously meant to generate goodwill for the company at a time when it’s facing pressure from legislators and competitors alike.

In the last couple of months, Uber partner drivers have faced mass impoundments in Cape Town owing to delays in the release of their operator permits. In Johannesburg meanwhile, drivers and customers alike faced verbal and physical harassment from metered taxi drivers.

According to Uber though, the video is merely meant to inspire the people watching it.