Exploring the Livelihood Strategies of Migrant Drivers in the e-hailing Sector

Abstract

There is a growing body of research documenting the experiences of gig workers; couriers and drivers connecting with clients through apps, across the globe (Webster 2020; Dubbelman 2021; Oatway 2021; Macmillan 2022; Marcano 2018). Displaying that despite its predicted benefits, the rise of technology-based companies has been found to present unexpected forms of precarity for labourers. What has not yet been captured by research are the livelihood experiences of migrants in the transport industry, especially in the highly competitive and often violent public transport industry of South Africa. Another wanting aspect of migration literature is the comparison of international migrants and domestic migrants in a given industry, something which can help shed some much-needed light as xenophobic ideas become institutionalised in the country. Therefore, migrants in South Africa’s public transport industry, not only face taxi violence but also xenophobia, and precarity brought forth by app-based employment. Their experiences provide an interesting area of study. Accordingly, this paper seeks to answer these two questions; “What are the livelihood strategies of e-hailers in Johannesburg?” and “How does migration status affect livelihood outcomes in this industry?”. The objective is to highlight how drivers in Johannesburg make a living through Uber/Bolt and the challenges they face in forging a sustainable livelihood. The secondary objective is to find out if international migrants have different livelihood outcomes even in an emerging economy that is neither formal nor informal. This work is done in an environment where migrants are often accused of stealing jobs, literature (Weda and de Villiers 2019) also suggests that they face numerous obstacles in entering the South African labour market. However, there are also indications that migrants may have certain competitive advantages over citizens in the form of entrepreneurial dexterity (Lamb, Kunene, and Dyili 2019). This paper explores these competing claims, giving deeper context to such studies by observing the livelihood strategies of two migrant groups in the same employment type. Two major observable survival strategies used by drivers involved avoidance out of fear of crime and harassment by taxi operators, and the second being side jobs as e-hailing was not a substantial income stream. International Migrants had better livelihood outcomes than Domestic Migrants as they reported higher earnings and Job Security.