Chinese Taxi Hailing Service Didi Pulls the Plug After Just One Year in South Africa As Uber and Bolt Dominate

• Didi has shut down its operations in South Africa after a 12-month stint as its first market on the African continent
• The Chinese taxi-hailing service initially launched in Gqeberha in March 2021 and rolled out its services to Cape Town and Gauteng
• Uber and Bolt were Didi's main rivals in the e-hailing space as the sector has recently dealt with strike action as drivers were unhappy over high fuel prices and wanted more rights as workers
• The company's local Twitter account has been made private and has not communicated any news to riders

Chinese taxi-hailing service, Didi, has stopped operating in South Africa after entering the market in March 2021.

The company was founded in 2012 by Cheng Wei as Didi Dache and has 13 000 corporate employees. Didi was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in June 2021 with the ride-hailing giant initially valued at $68.49 billion.

A representative from Didi South Africa confirmed to TechCrunch earlier in April that the taxi service app had closed its doors on April 8.

The confirmation of its operations in Mzansi comes almost exactly a year after the Chinese company launched locally. It kicked off in Gqeberha and then expanded to Cape Town and Gauteng later in 2021. By October of the same year, Didi SA told Business Tech that it had over 15 000 drivers in each city the company operated in.

The Didi spokesperson said:

"Our aim has been to ensure a smooth transition for all and would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, drivers, riders and partners for the kindness and support shown to DiDi."

Didi was the third e-hailing taxi service in South Africa and faced stiff competition from established players in the form of Uber and Bolt. Drivers across all three companies embarked on a strike in late March to protest the high cost of fuel and for increased workers' rights, Bloomberg reported.

Car crush! BMW 1 Series and taxi among 91 illegally imported cars destroyed by SAPS

South Africans didn't like seeing illegally imported vehicles including a BMW 1 Series and a Toyota Quantum being crushed by the police, with many offering alternative uses for them, Briefly News reports.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation impounded over 500 vehicles illegally imported by a syndicate that includes SAPS, Transport officials and foreign nationals.

South Africans reacted in dismay as footage of the vehicles being crushed at the safeguarding storage facility of the South African Police Service in Makhanda, Eastern Cape.

Source: Briefly News