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This series is a collaboration with .

South Africa is a hub for migrants and refugees, who come from neighbouring countries seeking employment in Africa’s strongest economy. But the country is also notorious for high levels of violent crime, road accidents and xenophobia – all challenges that the new arrivals must face as they try to build new lives. 

Many end up working for food courier companies, spending hours navigating the country’s dangerous roads on thousands of motorbikes.  

But as gig workers they are considered contractors rather than full-time employees, meaning they do not qualify for benefits such as sick leave, disability cover or medical insurance. They also cannot join formal unions. 

While some courier companies have started to offer safety measures such as in-app emergency buttons and accident insurance following investigations, drivers sometimes are not aware of these while others 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 hotspots and share information about accidents so that they can come to each other’s aid or visit injured drivers in hospital. 

Because a national road insurance fund is struggling with financial and operational issues, meaning accident payments take a long time, the drivers 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 unions are a lifeline for drivers, who find themselves working full-time to make ends meet amid soaring levels of unemployment but without any formalised 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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Credits:

Director/Producers: Duy Linh Tu, Sebastian Tuinder

Executive Producers: Jacob Templin, Cengiz Yar, Anup Kaphle

Reporters: Kim Harrisberg, Kimberly Mutandiro,

Production Assistant: Debadrita Sur

Editor: Clar Ni Chonghaile

Fact Checker: Abdulai Bah

Copy Editor: Mithila Phadke

Design: Joanne Lee

Motion Graphics: Karif Wat

Data Journalist: Diana Baptista