South Africa's migrant delivery workers find safety in numbers
الملخص
Date Reported: 15 أكتوبر 2024
الموقع: جنوب افريقيا (الجمهورية)
الشركات
Uber Eats - Clientالفئة المتأثرة
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
عمال مهاجرون: ( Number unknown - زيمبابوي , التوصيل السريع , Men , Unknown migration status )القضايا
حرية تكوين الجمعيات , Right to Unionisation , الحصول على المعلومات , Occupational Health & Safety , Access to Non-Judicial Remedy , Social Securityالرد
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
الإجراءات المتخذة: Uber told journalists that among other offerings it has added an in-app emergency button, which dispatches security and medical officers. The company says accident insurance is available to all drivers, following an investigation. But drivers journalists spoke to said they were unaware of the insurance, were too afraid to claim it, or had their claims rejected.
نوع المصدر: News outlet
الملخص
Date Reported: 15 أكتوبر 2024
الموقع: جنوب افريقيا (الجمهورية)
الشركات
Mr D Food - Clientالفئة المتأثرة
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
عمال مهاجرون: ( Number unknown - أفريقيا , التوصيل السريع , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status )القضايا
Occupational Health & Safetyالرد
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
الإجراءات المتخذة: Mr D Food did not comment to journalists.
نوع المصدر: News outlet
الملخص
Date Reported: 15 أكتوبر 2024
الموقع: جنوب افريقيا (الجمهورية)
الشركات
Sixty60 - Clientالفئة المتأثرة
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
عمال مهاجرون: ( Number unknown - أفريقيا , التوصيل السريع , Gender not reported )القضايا
Occupational Health & Safetyالرد
Response sought: Yes, by Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
الإجراءات المتخذة: Sixty60 did not respond to journalists' request for comment.
نوع المصدر: News outlet
South Africa has long been a hub for migrants and refugees, who come from neighboring countries seeking opportunities in Africa’s strongest economy. But the country is also notorious for high levels of violent crime, road accidents, and xenophobia — all challenges people must face as they try to build new lives.
Many migrant workers end up working for food courier companies, spending hours navigating the country’s dangerous roads on thousands of motorbikes.
As gig workers, they are considered contractors rather than full-time employees, which means they do not qualify for benefits such as sick leave, disability cover, or medical insurance. They also cannot join formal unions.
Some courier companies have started to offer safety measures such as in-app emergency buttons and accident insurance following investigations. But drivers are not always aware of these measures; some are afraid of availing of the benefits on offer for fear of damaging their already precarious work opportunities — or worse, being deported back home.
This “running from zero to zero,” as Congolese driver Feza Mande puts it, has prompted drivers to form their own informal unions, mainly using Facebook and WhatsApp to band together. In these online spaces, they warn one another about mugging hot spots and share information about accidents so that they can come to a fellow driver’s aid or visit injured drivers in the hospital.
The existing national road insurance fund is struggling with financial and operational issues. Accident payments take a long time, leading drivers to pool their money to help each other out when disaster strikes. If a driver is killed while working, they fundraise to send the body back home.
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