South Africa: 'Who Stole my Passengers?. Uber Cabs, Metered Taxis and the Search for Common Ground

When Uber Cab services started in 2009 as a 'tap-a-button-get a ride' idea of moving from one point to the other easily, little did the founders know it would grow into one of the biggest start-ups in the world in such a short time. Uber has revolutionised the cab industry by introducing an app that gets people rides from 'simple taps'. Although there are many positives from Uber's emergence, it is imperative to note that its rapid growth across the globe has caused frictions with metered taxi operators who have existed in the cab business milieu several years earlier. In most major cities of the world where Uber is operational, there have been some degrees of revolt and even violence between Uber drivers and metered taxi operators. The metered taxi operators cite grievances such as the use of unlicensed drivers by Uber, unfair competition and the 'stealing' of their passengers. Since Uber's 2013 launch in South Africa, there have been growing clashes between the platform and metered taxi operators with incessant disruptions to services, injuries and deaths, as well as damages to cars. This study examines the recurring conflict between Uber cab drivers and metered taxi operators within the Cape Town area of South Africa with the aim to proffering, from the aggrieved and affected drivers, effective conflict management strategies to mitigate the seemingly protracted conflict.