For five years, Lovemore Moyo spent more than 12 hours a day making up to 20 food deliveries for Uber Eats in Johannesburg. However, one afternoon in January, while he was hurrying to reach a customer on time, the app suddenly locked him out. Moyo’s error was using Google Maps to navigate to the customer’s location after the Uber Eats in-app map malfunctioned, he told Rest of World. “I was blocked because the app failed to trace my movements while using an alternate GPS,” Moyo said. “In such cases, they suspect us of stealing the food.”
Uber says drivers on the platform are allowed to use both the in-app map and Google Maps, as long as it doesn’t interfere with the app’s functionality. “Uber Eats does not arbitrarily deactivate delivery people,” a company spokesperson told Rest of World. But drivers claim that going off the app to use other GPS tools directly triggers the permanent blocks. Due to the theft and damage of cellphone tower batteries, which enable the towers to maintain power during prolonged load-shedding or controlled blackouts, the towers are ineffective and often turned off. This can result in malfunctions with the Uber Eats map. On the other hand, Google Maps continues to operate effectively as it maintains a direct connection with satellites, unaffected by local infrastructure challenges.
Moyo made several attempts to rejoin Uber Eats, without success. “That job was all I had,” he said, adding that he currently makes a living through occasional odd jobs like gardening.
Numerous other Uber Eats drivers in Johannesburg have encountered temporary or permanent bans from the app in recent months, due to issues stemming from South Africa’s severe power crisis. Despite the challenges, customers continue to expect timely deliveries, and Uber Eats remains steadfast in adhering to its regular community guidelines. “At Uber Eats, late deliveries are punishable offenses, drivers may be suspected of stealing and blocked for life,” Uber Eats driver Edward Mlilo told Rest of World. Mlilo is part of a WhatsApp group for Uber Eats drivers in Johannesburg, which has over 140 members.
Africa’s second-largest economy has been grappling with a persistent power shortage for several years. The situation has worsened lately, with up to six hours of daily power cuts in Johannesburg. The outages often cause mobile towers to exhaust their backup supply of power, disrupting services. The load-shedding also increases traffic congestion as traffic lights stop functioning.
In an email to Rest of World, Uber Eats said it adheres to strict community guidelines. “We want every experience on the Uber Eats platform to feel safe, respectful, and positive, and we developed our policies with this in mind,” said Lorraine Onduru, a regional spokesperson for Uber. “Delivery people losing access to their accounts doesn’t happen often. When it does, we know it can be very stressful and disruptive. So, we’re dedicated to reviewing each report fairly and promptly.”
Tina Phiri, a delivery driver in Johannesburg, told Rest of World he was temporarily blocked from the app a few times in February for late deliveries. The following month, he said he received a permanent ban. “I had to face rude customers if l delivered an order late,” said Phiri. “Some customers just didn’t care for the in-app messages I used to send informing them of running late, most of them complained. Some customers who selected the option to pay cash would refuse to complete the transaction after late deliveries and gave me low ratings.”
Phiri said he was not given any warning before getting permanently blocked from the app. He now works with local delivery app Mr D Food, but said he misses his gig at Uber Eats because of the flexibility it offered. At Mr D, Phiri is required to report to an office every morning and later in the day, which he feels is an inconvenience.
Delivery driver Umar Kiza, who has worked with Uber Eats since 2018, told Rest of World he had tried to bring up his issues with the platform, but his requests had fallen on deaf ears.
Kiza said he sent at least five complaints through the app’s help section, but did not receive any assistance. “Sending messages to Uber on the app is the same as reporting to a robot because no one ever responds except for a few automated responses,” he said. “My gig is everything to me. Losing it would be the worst nightmare.”
Uber’s spokesperson said the company launched a “Deactivation Review Centre” program last year, which allows permanently banned drivers to request a review of their account. But for those like Phiri, the appeals process hasn’t worked. “Every day we hear of new drivers being recruited to the platform, Uber Eats only cares about getting profit. As long as it has new recruits, it cares less about us who are permanently blocked,” he said.
