Ride-hailing platform, DiDi, aims to expand its service across South Africa in the coming months. SA launch lead for DiDi, Ken Liu, announced this at a recent media event held at the DiDi Driver Centre in Cape Town. DiDi offers competition for other popular driving apps, Uber and Bolt.
DiDi, which started recruiting driver-partners in Gauteng in June, will officially begin rides in Johannesburg and Pretoria from 23 August. They also have plans to further expand to Durban, KZN, before the end of 2021.
The e-hailing services app first launched in South Africa with a successful pilot run in Gqeberha (formerly P.E), in March this year. In May, services extended to Cape Town. Since then, the Chinese mobility platform has registered thousands of drivers, enabling residents to get from A to B.
DiDi focuses on providing safe and flexible entrepreneurship opportunities for drives as well as safe and reliable transportation options for riders. During a press conference, Liu emphasized the app’s safety features. “Our value proposition for our operation in South Africa is safety. For the drivers’ side it’s safety and better earnings, and on the riders’ side, it’s safety and affordability,” Lui said.
The DiDi app boasts several features for both drivers and passengers, including facial recognition, share trips with contacts, SOS button linked to police, smart geofencing for drivers to opt-out of unsafe areas and unmatch from riders for drivers and vice versa.