Bolt Saves Africa from Taxi War between Nigeria and South Africa
2 min read
An online ride-hailing service, Bolt, has restricted cross-border ride requests between Nigeria and South Africa. This restriction is a reaction to an outbreak of social media malicious activity that encourages users in both countries to order and subsequently cancel rides across borders, which had caused immense inconvenience to drivers.
The stunt left the drivers in a lurch, dispatching them to destinations with no customers in sight. one of the bolt drivers said he received several ride requests from Nigeria that would turn out to be scam deals—having wasted fuel, time, and money.
Bolt has reacted to this by blocking all those users it finds are involved in the disruptive act. The company released a statement, acknowledging the negative effect on its drivers in Nigeria and South Africa. It confirmed that while cross-border requests between the two nations would be restricted, inter-country requests between these countries and other countries would keep running.
The situation has also seen a lot of insulting messages targeted at drivers through the Bolt app. Chinyama reported an offensive comment whereby he was referred to as “Mandela’s son,” just to show how hostile the prank was.
Well, the roots of this “Bolt war” are still very unclear, but it tends to be part of a greater trend of trolling going on between users in Nigeria and South Africa on social media. The tendency has always been for individuals from these two giant economies to disagree online. For instance, the recent tensions involved controversies relating to the Miss South Africa pageant and disagreements over popular music and sports.
One concerned social media user indicated he was tired of the situation and that they were simply inconveniencing drivers who are out there hustling to earn a living. Many others have equally come out hard on the firms for engaging the drivers who are already suffering a triple whammy’s hand of ever-increasing fuel prices and economic turmoil. The pranks occasioned a waste of resources and resulted in increased costs for each of the rides in both countries—something that is out of reach for many.
The controversy simply mirrors the ongoing social media wars between Nigerians and South Africans that have characterized entertainment, sports, or other more serious topics like xenophobia. Some users reacted to the situation by urging a line of increased empathy and understanding, pointing out that the real victims are hard-working drivers caught in the crossfire of online disputes.
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