Promising to be different, consistently affordable and safer than other ride-hailing platforms operating in South Africa, Sandton-headquartered BozaRide launched in three major metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng on March 29.

BozaRide MD Ncamiso Mathebula says the platform – named after a slang name for a “boss” – will enable users to “ride like bozzas”. It will be available for use through a mobile application (app) in early April.

Mathebula says BozaRide will be different from international competitors because it is locally developed and, thus, understands the needs of South African passengers and drivers.

He points out that BozaRide will offer part-time or full-time drivers the opportunity to be their own boss, while also ensuring fair compensation and consistent fees for passengers that do not change as a result of demand or weather conditions.

“Some of the biggest challenges faced by the e-hailing industry in South Africa are regulatory issues, safety concerns for both drivers and [passengers], [the] development of a sustainable business model and low profitability for drivers,” he says.

However, Mathebula says BozaRide addresses these challenges and is seeking to collaborate with professionals and relevant organisations who share its values.

To ensure higher earnings for drivers, BozaRide technical director Flubert Taga says the platform will charge a competitive commission fee, which is lower than that charged by international competitors in the market.

He adds that BozaRide will offer four classes of vehicles for passengers to choose from, as well as features geared towards minors – BozaKids – and families – BozaFamily.

Using BozaKids, parents and guardians can use the app to request and recommend previously-used drivers for their children.

BozaFamily allows users to hail rides for other family members off their main profile, or even one-off for strangers using a guest ride feature.

To ensure safety, BozaRide requests app users to verify their identity using their identity number and facial recognition technology, while drivers are required to submit the same information, along with a police clearance certificate, before they undergo verification and approval by BozaRide staff.

In addition, the app features an SOS function that, when activated, calls a pre-selected emergency contact, notifies BozaRide about a potential dangerous situation and triggers efforts by BozaRide staff to contact the driver about the situation.

Passengers using the app are also required to provide BozaRide drivers with a one-time pin (OTP) that is sent to their mobile device. For this reason, passengers using BozaKids and BozaFamily, are required to download their own apps, which can be linked to a user’s main profile, to ensure they can get the OTPs to access BozaRide vehicles.

Further, BozaRide will also disallow drivers from picking up passengers using the app in dangerous areas or specific areas at certain times it deems dangerous, based on continual monitoring of crime trends and other metrics.

In this regard, Taga says the app will also disallow passengers who have abused the app by not paying in cash, from using cash as payment in future; as well as ensure drivers no longer accept cash payments at specific times, to avoid robberies of drivers who may be carrying large sums of cash.

“The safety of drivers and [passengers] is our concern, thus we use innovative technology to ensure that both are protected at all times. We work with relevant parties to provide necessary security to our ‘Bozas’ and to ensure we solve transportation issues in an innovative and meaningful way,” he says.

BozaRide also offers an e-wallet function, onto which money can be preloaded by a user for use throughout the month.

“We also offer a mandatory skills training and development programme to empower drivers. This is aimed at regulating and formalising the industry and ensuring that drivers are operating at a professional level. The training includes customer service, conflict management and etiquette training,” says Taga.

Before year-end, BozaRide intends to roll out in other major cities and towns across South Africa.

The platform is currently doing driver recruitment and capacitating drivers to ensure the transport of passengers is an enjoyable experience ahead of the app becoming available in April.