The Uber Express: South Africa's New Kidnapping Threat

In the first incident in July, a woman requested an Uber taxi outside of a popular casino in Johannesburg’s Fourways area. After getting into the front passenger seat, she was ambushed by two men hiding in the back of the vehicle. Similar attacks took place in August when a second woman was ambushed in Fourways and a couple accosted after they left a popular night club in Sunninghill, 11km from the first two incidents. In two of these cases, the victims were bound, assaulted and then detained for several hours before being taken to an ATM and forced to withdraw money. They were later abandoned in the informal settlement of Tembisa, just under 30km from Fourways, after being robbed of their money and valuables. In the second incident, the victim thwarted the kidnappers’ plans by jumping from the moving vehicle. While robbery appears to be the primary motivation behind the express kidnappings, during the two successful attacks, the female victims were also raped before being abandoned. This speaks to the vulnerability of the victims, easily overpowered by two attackers. 

Investigations have led to the arrest of three men who police believe were involved in at least two of the incidents. However, while charges against two of the suspects have been provisionally withdrawn due to insufficient evidence, it is likely that the men were part of a small syndicate. Uber responded to these incidents by imploring users of the service to make use of the App’s built-in mechanisms to verify the identity of taxi drivers before entering vehicles. However, given the prevailing high crime rates in the country and the established precedent of express kidnappings conducted by criminals posing as meter taxi drivers, the threat of further kidnappings of this nature is nevertheless likely to continue.