INSIDE SOUTH AFRICA’S BOOMING E-HAILING ECONOMY
Somewhere on a Johannesburg street, a driver pulls over for the third time in an hour, checks his app, and calculates whether the next fare will cover his weekly vehicle rental. That calculation, repeated tens of thousands of times a day across South Africa, is the human engine behind an industry now supporting up to 70,000 vehicles and generating more than R500 million a month in turnover for car owners on platforms such as Uber, Bolt and inDrive.
That monthly figure captures only the revenue flowing to vehicle operators. It leaves out the earnings of drivers themselves, parts suppliers, repair crews and insurers. It does not count the tens of thousands of motorbikes delivering food and purchases to homes and offices across the country. The full economic footprint extends far beyond what appears on congested streets.
Millions of South Africans tolerate the traffic disruptions because they rely on these services. Many drivers work the platforms after hours, using e-hailing to supplement primary incomes and add stability to household finances. The market is enormous and still expanding.
Beneath this growth, though, lies a more complicated picture. In some parts of the country, evidence suggests the market is oversupplied with drivers. Uber reported roughly 100,000 independent contractors in recent communications to ITWeb, a figure that included delivery couriers. The company had about 55,000 drivers in 2023. Bolt operates with approximately 40,000. Many drivers maintain accounts on multiple platforms simultaneously, some remain inactive, and more than one driver may operate the same vehicle. Even accounting for these overlaps, the available evidence points to an industry supporting tens of thousands of households while generating business for vehicle owners, drivers and the downstream supply chain.
Passenger demand is climbing. Discovery Bank and Visa’s 2026 SpendTrend report, which analyzed 2.6 billion card transactions between 2021 and 2025, found that 58% of surveyed consumers were using e-hailing more frequently than a year earlier. In Johannesburg, that figure rose to 67%. The survey focused on South Africans earning at least R100,000 a year, so its findings cannot be applied to the entire population. Still, relatively affluent households appear to be increasingly combining private vehicle ownership with on-demand transport.
Convenience and time savings motivated 54% of respondents to increase their e-hailing use. Going out and consuming alcohol followed at 48%, with fuel and driving costs at 35%, safety at 29%, and discounts at 25%.
THE DRIVER’S BOTTOM LINE
Whether driving for these platforms produces a sustainable living remains genuinely uncertain. Research at Wits University by Bingo Balekwa concluded that profits dwindled significantly once platform charges, fuel, insurance, maintenance and other operating expenses were deducted. Platforms charged 23% to 25% per ride, and some participating drivers earned profits of little more than R900 a month. The study concluded that financed vehicles would struggle to remain profitable under the assumptions used.
A separate study from the University of Johannesburg presented a more positive picture, though it drew from only 53 Johannesburg drivers. Some 90.6% said their e-hailing income exceeded what they had earned in previous jobs, while 62.3% said it was sufficient to cover their expenses. Almost 40% had left previous employment to make e-hailing their principal source of income.
The Western Cape E-hailing Association takes a less optimistic view, arguing that apparently attractive gross earnings are quickly consumed by fuel, vehicle rental, insurance, data and maintenance. E-hailing is seen as a relatively accessible earning opportunity with low barriers to entry. Much of the commercial risk, however, rests with the driver.
THE RISE OF CAR LANDLORDS
Many e-hailing drivers do not own the vehicles they operate. They rent them from fleet owners, often for R1,750 to R2,500 a week, depending on the vehicle and the services included. This has created a new class of investors: car landlords who own the productive asset while drivers supply the labour, fuel and time.
If 50,000 vehicles were rented at R2,500 a week, as some estimate, weekly payments to vehicle owners would amount to R125 million, or about R542 million a month. Drivers who own their own vehicles earn higher fees than those who do not.
Uber and Bolt both direct drivers without vehicles towards rental and fleet partners. Some arrangements include insurance, maintenance and tracking; others impose deposits, mileage charges and long minimum rental periods. The advertised weekly price, therefore, does not always represent the driver’s complete vehicle cost.
The economic relationship resembles a landlord-and-tenant arrangement, but with one important difference: a rented house does not travel tens of thousands of kilometres a year or risk returning after an accident.
PEER-TO-PEER VEHICLE RENTAL
A related but distinct market is developing around vehicles rented directly to members of the public. South African peer-to-peer rental platform Society, founded by entrepreneurs Cherrylee Samson and Anje Kruger, allows vehicle owners to list their cars for rentals lasting several days or weeks. Society vets participating owners, vehicles and renters, and facilitates bookings through its platform, functioning as a type of Airbnb for transport.
Samson says Society is onboarding more than 12 vehicles a day and that listed vehicles achieve a 70% booking rate. The average rental lasts seven days, with about half extended for another week. Prices depend heavily on the vehicle and the conditions imposed by the owner. Society lists single-cab bakkies at about R690 per day and double-cabs at around R950 per day, generally subject to mileage limits and security deposits.
“A lot depends on mileage allowances, pricing and deposit barriers set by the owners,” says Samson. “If a vehicle’s deposit is too high or the mileage-to-price ratio is too low, owners may not see even a single booking.”
The model has already achieved considerable scale overseas. US-based Turo had more than 340,000 active vehicle listings by 2025 and was reported to have crossed $1 billion (approximately R16.17 billion) in annual revenue. These headline numbers do not make every listed car a profitable investment. Owners must still account for depreciation, maintenance, insurance, damage, theft and periods when the vehicle sits idle.
IMPACT ON VEHICLE SALES
E-hailing demand also appears to be showing up in car sales figures, particularly for affordable and fuel-efficient models. The Toyota Corolla Quest, widely used for e-hailing and conventional rental, was South Africa’s best-selling sedan from 2020 to 2023. Toyota discontinued it in 2025. Another fleet favourite, the Nissan Almera, was sold locally from 2013 until imports ended in 2023. Despite stock running down, Nissan sold 1,575 Almeras during the first eight months of 2023, making it the company’s second-best-selling passenger model during that period.
Neither vehicle is sold new today, but both remain available through e-hailing rental businesses. Newer cars such as the Suzuki Swift, Toyota Starlet, Hyundai Grand i10 and Volkswagen Polo Vivo also appear frequently on e-hailing platforms and among South Africa’s best-selling vehicles. They are popular with private motorists and conventional rental fleets for the same reasons: affordability, fuel economy and low running costs.
The evidence does not prove that e-hailing is driving national vehicle sales, but its impact is undeniable among more affordable models.
For deeper analysis of this sector, see https://www.moneyweb.co.za/moneyweb-opinion/inside-south-africas-booming-e-hailing-economy/
THE UNRESOLVED QUESTION
The unresolved question is not whether e-hailing creates economic activity. It clearly does. The critical question is who captures the income and who ultimately carries the risk. Tens of thousands of households depend on these platforms for income. Investors profit from vehicle ownership. Platform operators extract fees. As the industry continues to grow, the distribution of benefit and burden across this ecosystem will determine whether e-hailing delivers genuine economic mobility for drivers, or simply a new form of precarious work dressed up in the language of entrepreneurship.