A night out after the rugby in Pretoria three weeks ago turned into a nightmare for Johannesburg resident Kayleigh Marx, 25, and a friend when their Uber driver led them into a terrifying ordeal at the hands of two attackers he allowed into the car.
Her story is one of at least six cases of late-night attacks on unsuspecting passengers who put their faith in the ride-sharing service, which sells itself as a safe form of transport.
Police have confirmed four such cases have been opened at the Brooklyn police station and two in Garsfontein in Pretoria East in the past month.
Uber told the Sunday Times this week it was conducting an internal investigation into the cases and was “very concerned”. No arrests have been made yet.
In two other incidents, Uber drivers are alleged to have carried an attacker in the boot of their car, leading their passengers to a deserted area before stopping and allowing the thug to emerge, apparently armed.
The latest incidents raise questions over the safety of ride-sharing, especially late at night, and the possibility that criminal elements are able to obtain drivers' profiles to carry out attacks on unsuspecting passengers.
He said he had to pee. Suddenly he opened the boot and another man sprang out
— 24-year-old Tshwane student
Marx's ordeal began after the Springboks-Australia rugby match at Loftus on July 8.
“After the match we went out in Menlo Park and from there our last stop was Lucky Rodrigo [restaurant and bar] in Lynwood,” Marx told the Sunday Times this week.
After midnight Marx and a male friend called for an Uber to a guesthouse.
“About 300m from Lucky’s he suddenly pulled over. My friend immediately said there was trouble.”
Her friend locked the doors but the Uber driver unlocked them again.
“This happened repeatedly until the driver hit his hand away and then opened the cubby hole. He removed a canister of pepper spray and sprayed my friend in the eyes. Then he swung around, grabbed my iPhone and unlocked the doors again.
“Two men ran in from the dark. One came to my side and one to my friend’s side. The man on my side shouted ‘we’ll shoot you, we’ll shoot you!’ but I never saw a gun. My friend shouted at me to run,” Marx said.
She ran back towards Lucky Rodrigo.
“One of the attackers started running after me but turned around. As I ran, I looked back, and I could see the three men hitting my friend and repeatedly kicking his legs from under him.”
Some of their friends were still at the restaurant.
“When they started running towards the car the three attackers saw them, jumped in the car and drove off.”
Marx says her friend was bruised all over his body and “his eyes were still burning two days later”.
While Uber did not respond to specific questions, including if any drivers had been suspended, it said in a statement:
“We are very concerned by these allegations and can confirm that we are conducting an internal investigation for these incidents. Following information received about these types of allegations, we immediately reach out to law enforcement to assist with their investigation.
“While we can't disclose the specific actions which have been taken, we do always ensure that for serious safety incidents we immediately mitigate the risk by restricting a driver's access to the application while we investigate.
“At the conclusion of the investigation, the decision may be made to permanently remove a driver's access depending on their history and the nature of the feedback.
“When law enforcement, such as the police, are involved, Uber’s law enforcement relations team will co-operate with their investigation in accordance with our guidelines.”
One of the attackers started running after me but turned around. As I ran, I looked back, and I could see the three men hitting my friend and repeatedly kicking his legs from under him
On Sunday July 15, a 34-year-old Pretoria woman, who asked not to be named, said she and a female friend were robbed. For her, it was the second time “in the last year”.
“Both times I called my Uber from the Pretoria East watering hole called Padstal in the early hours of the morning after a night out,” she said.
“The driver kept taking the wrong turns. He also kept asking if we were going to give him something. We saw a filling station and asked him to stop there. My friend and I planned to end the ride and request another one, but the driver drove past the filling station.
“About 100m from the traffic light on the corner of Solomon Mahlangu and Old Farm Road he pulled over.
“My door was locked. The driver jumped out of the car and violently pulled my friend out. Then he opened the boot and suddenly another man emerged.
The two women were robbed of their phones.
“Last year, my ex-husband and I also called an Uber from Padstal. The driver stopped in front of our estate — also in Pretoria East — and as we climbed out asked me to unlock my phone to end the trip. I naïvely listened to him and he grabbed my phone and sped off.”
In another incident, a 24-year-old Tshwane student said she had gone pub crawling with her uncle last Saturday and called for an Uber home after 11pm.
“He kept taking wrong turns and when I asked him what was going on he said something was wrong with his phone. I then entered the address in my phone and passed the device to him,” she said.
On the way home the driver drove onto the N4 highway and turned off in a darkened section with no lights.
“He said he had to pee. Suddenly he opened the boot and another man sprang out. My uncle and that man grabbed each other and the driver rushed at me shouting ‘I will shoot you!' I saw something in his hand but it was too dark to see if it was a gun. I hit his hand and heard the item fall, then he was on me. We were kicking and punching each other.”
She managed to get loose. “I ran to the car and jumped into the driver's seat. The key wasn’t in the ignition. Suddenly the man was in the back seat and he repeatedly punched me with one fist.”
She jumped out of the vehicle. “The other man released my uncle and jumped into the car with the driver and they started driving off. My uncle grabbed his own phone to get help. We were so focused on his phone that we did not even see the men were reversing. When they were next to us one of them grabbed my uncle’s phone, then they sped off.” They later discovered a knife where they had scuffled.
He said he had to pee. Suddenly he opened the boot and another man sprang out. My uncle and that man grabbed each other and the driver rushed at me shouting ‘I will shoot you!
One of the most recent incidents happened early on Friday morning when a Durban man was robbed during an Uber ride to his mother's house in Pretoria.
The incident took place at 2am at the entrance to a gated community in eastern Tshwane.
“The driver told me he wasn’t allowed past the gate. I got out with my phone in my hand. Suddenly a man pushed me very hard from behind and I fell. I don't know if he came from the boot or was hiding outside, but when I got up they were gone with my phone,” said the 38-year-old man.
He said he had not opened a police case yet, but made an affidavit so he could do a SIM swap.
Police spokesperson Col Mawela Masondo confirmed seven Uber-related robbery cases.
He said five cases had been reported at Brooklyn police station in July, and that drivers had been implicated in four of these cases.
At nearby Garsfontein police station, two cases were opened in July, both implicating the drivers. One of those was Marx's case. The other case involved the theft of R300, a cellphone and a watch.
“Police cannot confirm that it's the same group of suspects that are involved, as the modus operandi differs. All the cases are under investigation, and no arrests have been made yet,” Masondo said.
