Katlego Sekhu

On Monday morning, Sizwe Dhlomo shared with his team that a friend of his from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) had recently visited South Africa and noticed the rise in delivery bikes.
“The more delivery bikes we have, the more problems we seem to have,” Sizwe noted. “They drift in and out of traffic, and it gets intense.”
Mfundo Mabalane echoed the concern, saying she’s had multiple bad experiences with delivery riders.
“They give us a tough time on the road,” she said.
Mpho Maboi also shared her observations about safety and professionalism.
“Some of them don’t seem to know the rules of the road. I’ve seen riders in flip-flops, with no proper gear. If anything were to happen, they’d be seriously injured,” she said.
Sol Phenduka added that the current traffic laws may not have anticipated this surge in bike deliveries and informal riders.
“I don’t think the lawmakers saw this coming. You don’t even need a full licence to ride these bikes, just a learner’s. And many of them don’t have the right documentation, so they can’t go through the proper K53 training.”
The team invited listeners to share their experiences with bikes on our roads in light of their conversation. Listen to the full discussion on the podcast.
Read Next: The week that was: Highlights from Kaya Biz



