Student tells of kidnapping ordeal with fake Bolt driver

POLOKWANE – A student who resides in Polokwane claims she was kidnapped twice recently by a person posing as a ridesharing company driver. To add insult to injury, once she reported the incident, the police seemingly neglected to help her.

The girl, who opted to remain anonymous, told BONUS she was waiting outside the college gate to be picked up after she requested a ride from the ridesharing company Bolt (formerly Taxify). After a car pulled up next to her, she immediately suspected that something was amiss, as it didn’t match the description of the vehicle that would be picking her up.

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“I didn’t move closer to the vehicle, but the driver called me by my name and explained he was the one instructed to pick me up.” The man then told her that the original driver she had requested had to rush to another appointment and had asked him to assist. “I then made the mistake of getting into the car. He started driving and asked me all sorts of personal questions. He kept on driving even though I didn’t give him the location where I wanted to be dropped off.”

She said the man kept driving past filling stations.

“I then sent my friend a message with a location pin, and told him to come and look for me. In the meantime, I told this driver that someone knew where I was and that I was going to get him arrested. He just laughed at me.”

She said she suspected the man had been stalking her, as he seemed to know where she stayed, where he eventually dropped her off. She said she didn’t go to the police in this case, as she didn’t have any proof. The second incident happened on 8 October. “I was walking home when a car pulled up from behind. I only recognised the man after he got out of the car.”

She said he then forced her into the vehicle, even though she physically started to defend herself. “He said he was taking me to his place because I refused to go with him on the previous occasion.”

The man stopped at a house, but after failing to find the supposed keys, he started driving around again. “It was when we were in Marshall Street that I recognised my surroundings and I jumped out of the vehicle while he was driving.” After phoning the police and her friends, someone came to fetch her. The nightmare continued.

“Explaining my story to the police, they claimed that they were not going to get involved in a lovers’ quarrel, as they said the man and I knew each other. I just knew this case would go nowhere and I would never see justice.”

BONUS contacted Bolt Country Manager Gareth Taylor, who said the vehicle’s registration number is not registered on their system and therefore, the driver is not in their service.

Taylor said there are certain measures that prevail when commuters make use of ridesharing services:

• The driver’s photo, name, vehicle type and registration, as well as the driver’s rating, are revealed to the rider when the driver accepts the ride, making it possible for riders to check that the person driving the car that is collecting them is actually the driver registered on the Bolt app.

Passengers should not get into a vehicle unless the driver matches the profile in the app.

• If the person trying to collect you doesn’t match the driver details, you can report the incident to Bolt via the in-app support tab, so that Bolt’s high priority team can investigate the matter further.

• Commuters can also share their trip details with a trusted person at their destination.

• Commuters can report any concerns or compliments via the Support tab on the Bolt app.

Warrant Officer Lesiba Ramoshaba from the Polokwane police, said the police’s response to the woman’s complaint is regrettable.”It was uncalled for and there should be no exceptions when a citizen wants to report a crime.”He committed to looking into the matter despite a case not having been opened.

reporter02@nmgroup.co.za