South Africa’s migrant delivery workers find safety in numbers

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.

These informal, online groups are a lifeline for drivers, who find themselves working full time to make ends meet amid soaring levels of unemployment but without any formalized benefits. Through their collective action, they are working to reshape the food courier industry to make it safer and more fair. ▰

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