Dear Gareth Taylor: A Response to Bolt’s Open Letter 

Thank you for your letter.

As the activist who started the petition against the sexual assaults of South African womxn by Bolt drivers, I appreciate the explanation of the safety measures enforced by Bolt. So much so, that I even recognise one of those measures in my petition. The point, however, is that the measures that you have listed in your open letter have proven to be ineffective, given the continued commission of sexual assaults despite them.

I find it unfortunate that you took the opportunity that you had to address the South African public on this issue, and used it to point to the country’s dismal rates of gender-based violence and femicide as the main cause of the crimes committed by Bolt drivers. Reference to South Africa’s gender-based violence and femicide rates was made four times throughout a four page letter.

The South African public - and particularly South African womxn - are well aware of the rates of gender-based violence and femicide, as it is a reality that we live with daily. What we would like to know is what efficient verification and vetting process, other than the three listed in your open letter (which have proven to be inefficient), Bolt plans to implement in order to protect passengers - especially womxn - from the realities of our society. Other than the vetting processes, the remainder of the safety measures listed in your open letter (e.g. checking the photo of the driver against the face of the driver himself/herself/themself) place the onus on the passenger, and not Bolt, to ensure his/her/their own safety.

Since starting my petition, numerous womxn have come forward - in the petition comments, on their personal social media accounts and on Bolt’s social media pages - to share their hair-raising and traumatic experiences on Bolt. I am of the opinion that a one-on-one meeting with Bolt, to share these stories and to provide conducive solutions to this issue following consultation with an e-hailing safety expert, would be the most conducive way of putting my petition to good use. More than that, I would request that Bolt hosts an open forum, and invites members of the public, who have had negative experiences (in terms of safety) when using the application, to share their experiences and proposed solutions. Both the meeting and open forum could assist Bolt to understand better how people experience its application, and how best to improve on its safety measures e.g. requiring that dash-cams be installed in every vehicle, facial recognition, and finger-print verification upon application login or ride approval. The open forum, in particular, would also go a long way to changing the public perception of Bolt - which is that it is an unapproachable service provider that releases generic responses and public relations statements.

I look forward to hearing from you within the next 7 days regarding my proposal of a one-on-one meeting, and an open forum.

Kind Regards

Atang Swartbooi

[Letter sent to Bolt South Africa on 11 March 2022 in or around 12:00 PM]

Bolt's Open Letter: https://blog.bolt.eu/en-za/dear-south-africa-an-open-letter-from-bolt/