West Turffontein mother and son allegedly assaulted in an Uber

A 23-year-old mother wants recourse for an ordeal while riding in an Uber.

The West Turffontein mother said she was with her son in an Uber when the driver assaulted them.

“I requested an Uber to go to my sister to fetch a laptop to study and was with my son, who is two years and four months old.

“When I got in the car, I sat in the backseat with my son. The driver said I must put down the child. I agreed to take my son and put him on my lap. As we were driving, the driver shouted that I could not control my child. I responded by saying I heard him the first time, and my son was on my lap. While driving, he kept looking back.

“At a traffic light, he said he should have dropped us there. I said he better cancel the trip and leave us there. He continued driving, then stopped and went to the side of the road. There, he beat my son, so I hit back and left the car. He ran after us and hit us. I ran to the nearest shop, where the people there stopped him, and he drove off.

“People assumed he was my boyfriend or husband. I have opened a case at the Booysens SAPS, and my son had a medical exam (J88 form). Uber did not in any way assist me. Instead, I was charged for a trip that never took place. I want justice for my son and me,” she explained.

She gave the Southern Courier the name of the driver, the make of the car and its registration plate number.
The Booysens SAPS is investigating a case of assault and GBV.

The Southern Courier tried to contact Uber for comment. At first, they responded by saying, “We take incident reports seriously at Uber. I have escalated your issue to a team better equipped to assist. We appreciate your understanding in advance.”

The second response was, “Please note that our privacy notice limits our ability to share account holder information or the actions taken internally. Since our privacy notice limits our ability to share account holder information or the actions taken with him, we can only provide this information through the process outlined in our data request guidelines.

“That said, we can work with you through the appropriate channels to help as needed. For information requested through law enforcement, please visit this page for our guidelines for seeking records from Uber. For other data requests, please access this page. It will provide the guidelines you are looking for.

“We hope you understand this works both ways and equally. We would never disclose the details of any conversations or dealings we had with a partner driver or rider to any other rider or partner driver. That said, we want to stress that we take situations like this incredibly seriously. Please let us know if you have any questions regarding this issue.”

This is a developing story, and we will share more information when available.