Shesha, the new South African-owned e-hailing service, has faced significant backlash since its launch on May 1. Despite its ambitious goals of revolutionising the ride-hailing industry, Shesha’s launch has been overshadowed by significant criticism and controversy.
The app, whose major stakeholders are the South African National Taxi Council in Gauteng and the Gauteng National Taxi Alliance, boasts security protocols, including fingerprint ID, facial recognition, and banking information verification, to ensure driver reliability. Uber and Bolt have similar protocols.
However, the reception has been overwhelmingly negative. Shesha has accumulated more than 10,000 downloads but has a 1.5-star rating on Google Play, based on more than 1,000 reviews.
Chairperson of Gauteng e-Hailing Services Thato Ramaila said the harassment issues have been addressed.
“The issue of harassment and intimidation has been addressed collectively by GTI and Gauteng e-Hailing Services by joining forces to educate and advance the Shesha campaign collectively and approach drivers and customers respectfully,” said Ramaila.
“Our review was badly affected during the confrontation that occurred but we are happy to see it's now increasing due to collaboration and people now are understanding our transformation journey.”
Some of the people reviewed claimed Shesha’s operators use violence and guns to intimidate and forcibly remove Uber and Bolt drivers from the road..
“Stay away from this app. The operators of this app stop Uber and Bolt drivers on the road, use their guns to intimidate these Uber drivers. The operators of this app are violent people who carry guns,” said Thamo Moyo.
Some criticised the app for allegedly pressuring drivers to use Shesha exclusively and extorting money from those operating other e-hailing services.
“This app has violence tendencies as it is forcing drivers to use their app and soliciting money from drivers that are using other apps to operate,” said Fidelis Ncube.
Driver reviews however reflected a mix of experiences.
Jan Selolo praised the app’s safety features and flexibility in pickup and drop-off locations, noting its positive impact on client safety.
“One of the best e-hailing apps ever. It allows me to pick up and drop off at places we never pick and drop off. I love the fact that it verifies clients and drivers. So, with Shesha we are safe, and we not worried about being hijacked. Thank You Shesha for coming to our rescue. Our clients are happy with the app. They can now be dropped and picked up at Bosman station.”
Yet, several drivers also went to Google to review and expressed frustration about their experience on the app.
Sletty Mncube criticised the app’s performance, accusing Shesha of forcing drivers to use it while failing to resolve technical issues or market the service effectively.
“This app and the brand doesn't even deserve a one star we as drivers are being victimised and forced to download it by force when the app is also not working properly and no marketing for it is being done. The only thing they are doing is taking our car keys and telling us to delete other apps and have Shesha only when it does not even have customers nor rides in my area. The idea behind Shesha is a great one because of the security features but the implementation and lack of updates makes it trash,” said Mncube.
Kgothatso Phora condemned the app’s marketing strategies and alleged that its operators demand money from drivers.
“Not safe and user friendly. They need to improve their marketing skills, stop making other e-hailing drivers pay for their poor marketing skill with their so-called taxi associations. They demand money from drivers if they find you using Bolt or Uber. They're scavengers and need to be removed asap.”
Bradley Maluks said coercive tactics undermined Shesha’s credibility and potential.
“The app is becoming useless before it can take off. Why would the taxi operators be forcing other e-hailing drivers to download the app and delete any other e-hailing apps? I'm so disgusted. To think we were all anticipating a home-based app, but they (taxi associations) are marketing it wrong. They should use a different approach, not violence.”
Shesha app seeking to replace Bolt and Uber gets poor ratings
Image: Sheshe ride/Facebook
Shesha, the new South African-owned e-hailing service, has faced significant backlash since its launch on May 1. Despite its ambitious goals of revolutionising the ride-hailing industry, Shesha’s launch has been overshadowed by significant criticism and controversy.
The app, whose major stakeholders are the South African National Taxi Council in Gauteng and the Gauteng National Taxi Alliance, boasts security protocols, including fingerprint ID, facial recognition, and banking information verification, to ensure driver reliability. Uber and Bolt have similar protocols.
However, the reception has been overwhelmingly negative. Shesha has accumulated more than 10,000 downloads but has a 1.5-star rating on Google Play, based on more than 1,000 reviews.
Chairperson of Gauteng e-Hailing Services Thato Ramaila said the harassment issues have been addressed.
“The issue of harassment and intimidation has been addressed collectively by GTI and Gauteng e-Hailing Services by joining forces to educate and advance the Shesha campaign collectively and approach drivers and customers respectfully,” said Ramaila.
“Our review was badly affected during the confrontation that occurred but we are happy to see it's now increasing due to collaboration and people now are understanding our transformation journey.”
Some of the people reviewed claimed Shesha’s operators use violence and guns to intimidate and forcibly remove Uber and Bolt drivers from the road..
“Stay away from this app. The operators of this app stop Uber and Bolt drivers on the road, use their guns to intimidate these Uber drivers. The operators of this app are violent people who carry guns,” said Thamo Moyo.
Some criticised the app for allegedly pressuring drivers to use Shesha exclusively and extorting money from those operating other e-hailing services.
“This app has violence tendencies as it is forcing drivers to use their app and soliciting money from drivers that are using other apps to operate,” said Fidelis Ncube.
Driver reviews however reflected a mix of experiences.
Jan Selolo praised the app’s safety features and flexibility in pickup and drop-off locations, noting its positive impact on client safety.
“One of the best e-hailing apps ever. It allows me to pick up and drop off at places we never pick and drop off. I love the fact that it verifies clients and drivers. So, with Shesha we are safe, and we not worried about being hijacked. Thank You Shesha for coming to our rescue. Our clients are happy with the app. They can now be dropped and picked up at Bosman station.”
Yet, several drivers also went to Google to review and expressed frustration about their experience on the app.
Sletty Mncube criticised the app’s performance, accusing Shesha of forcing drivers to use it while failing to resolve technical issues or market the service effectively.
“This app and the brand doesn't even deserve a one star we as drivers are being victimised and forced to download it by force when the app is also not working properly and no marketing for it is being done. The only thing they are doing is taking our car keys and telling us to delete other apps and have Shesha only when it does not even have customers nor rides in my area. The idea behind Shesha is a great one because of the security features but the implementation and lack of updates makes it trash,” said Mncube.
Kgothatso Phora condemned the app’s marketing strategies and alleged that its operators demand money from drivers.
“Not safe and user friendly. They need to improve their marketing skills, stop making other e-hailing drivers pay for their poor marketing skill with their so-called taxi associations. They demand money from drivers if they find you using Bolt or Uber. They're scavengers and need to be removed asap.”
Bradley Maluks said coercive tactics undermined Shesha’s credibility and potential.
“The app is becoming useless before it can take off. Why would the taxi operators be forcing other e-hailing drivers to download the app and delete any other e-hailing apps? I'm so disgusted. To think we were all anticipating a home-based app, but they (taxi associations) are marketing it wrong. They should use a different approach, not violence.”
READ MORE
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Shesha e-hailing service wants to revolutionise how South Africans ride
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