By Nozuko Mangena
Bolt has blocked an e-hailing Cape Town driver who allegedly stabbed two young women during a R90 trip on the app.
The women stabbed, were part of a group of five girls who were travelling to Dunoon from their place of residence when they got in a violent dispute with the driver, who refused to drop them off at their designated place.
The young women had requested the driver to pass by at a petrol station so that they could use the ATM machines. The group went to two petrol stations as the ATM machine was not functioning at the first stop.
According to one of the victims, Silu Daniso, who was stabbed, the driver allegedly got violent once he had been paid his R90 fare at the second ATM or petrol station.
Daniso told IOL News that the driver refused to take them to Dunoons, and tried to forced them out his car. The five young women refused to get out the car.
Upon refusing the driver drove to the Tableview police station.
Daniso told IOL that the police apparently told him that he must take them to their destination as they paid him a full amount and more for the trip.
That is when the drama unfolded for the worst, as the driver allegedly drove in the wrong direction. The women then started recording the incident on their phones, which apparently irritated the driver, who snatched one of the phones from the women.
"We tried to get the phone back and we asked him to stop the car. That is when the fight started,“ she said, adding that they retrieved the phone from him.
He then stopped the car, the women ran out, he pursued them on foot and he allegedly stabbed two of the women with a sharp object, resembling knife.
“He stopped the car and we tried to run out of the car. That is when he took the knife o something and stabbed me and my other friend and I fell to the ground,” she said.
E-hailing company Bolt said the matter was under investigation and they had blocked the driver with immediate effect. The company said they were cooperating fully with the South African Police Services (SAPS).
IOL has approached the SAPS in the Western Cape for comment. This story will be updated once comment has been received.
Bolt spokesperson Sandra Buyole said: “Upon learning of the incident we immediately took action to block the driver from the platform while a thorough investigation is conducted.
“The safety and well-being of our riders are our top priorities, and we do not tolerate any behaviour that compromises their safety and security”.
Women for Change and Keep The Energy, two non-profit organisations who are committed to raising awareness about gender-based violence, said the company had to do better to protect its clients.
Keep The Energy said it had been approached by Bolt in the past to be part of the Bolt Safety Campaigns which would have been a way of raising awareness around safety for passengers.
However, they did not take part in the campaign because they feel Bolt needs to do more to protect passengers especially women.
IOL