Eleven Uber customers have come forward claiming that they received shocking treatment while using the e-hailing service. Represented by Ulrich Roux Attorneys, a law firm based in Parkhurst, Johannesburg, the eleven victims will be approaching the High Court in order to claim for damages in the form of a class action.
Four men are currently on trial for a number of charges, including rape, kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and attempted murder. The accused allegedly attacked five Uber clients between July and August of 2016.
As reported by News24, the modus operandi of the accused includes posing as an Uber driver, despite not being the driver linked to the app.
In most reported cases, the other accused emerge from the car’s boot and attack the victims. In all cases but one, the victims were stabbed and raped. The exception was an attempted rape. The victims were also robbed of their belongings and forced to divulge their bank account details.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the riders and their families, these incidents are deeply upsetting,” Uber said in an official statement. “As soon as these incidents were reported we reached out to local authorities and whatever information we could provide was handed over to the police and it was this close collaboration that led to the arrest of the suspect. In cases of this nature we work closely with police to support their investigations.”
“Safety is a top priority for Uber, and has been since our launch in South Africa. We’re committed to doing the right thing and take on our part of the responsibility to increase safety,” the company said. “We constantly invest and innovate to raise the bar on safety.”
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