Story Update: Earlier this month we reported a story about Mbali Mkhize in which the influencer reported an alleged sexual attack. We have since been contacted off the record about this story claiming that the supposed attack didn't involve an Uber driver. We're waiting on an official statement from Uber and will update ASAP.
Social media influencer, Mbali Mkhize found herself in a scary situation today, 2 October 2020, after she alleges her Uber driver threatened to rape her. With over 81 thousand followers on Twitter, the beauty blogger thought fast and began live tweeting all that had transpired.
Her first tweet was posted at 2:18 pm which stated, “I’m asking my Uber driver what route is he using, Then he responds “I’m taking you to a bush so I can rape you I’m going to jump out of this car!!!”, approximately 10 minutes later she updated her followers with, “We approaching a busy road. I’m going to jump off and run. I’m safe”.
Thousands of people began panicking on social media, and urged her to inform them of the driver’s name and number plate. With an overwhelming response, her tweets hit the trending page, causing for more people to become aware of what was going on. After the consistent messages questioning if she was in fact okay. After about an hour Mbali responded with, “I got out the car and started crying, and I just ran. I didn’t have to but I’m losing my mind. I will never take for granted what a tweet can do, when you not safe.”
Uber South Africa issued a statement regarding the incident, stating, “Hello there, we are extremely concerned to hear about this. Please send us the phone number linked to your Uber account in a DM along with more details regarding what happened and the driver-partner's name so that we can make things right. “
After the public began insisting that Uber do more than just tweet about the situation, the transportation app updated Tweeps with, “Hello there, we've reached out to the reporter and we'll take the needed actions to resolve this issue ASAP. Appreciate you flagging this to us. We understand you're frustrated. Please know that we work on taking the needful actions with the driver-partners who violate our terms and conditions, which may reach in some cases fully rejecting them from the app.”
With the increasing number of gender-based violence incidents that have taken place in the country throughout 2020, South Africans did not take Mbali’s situation lightly. Many praised her for using her platform as a tool to get help and offered her their gratitude knowing that she was safe.
I’m asking my Uber driver what route is he using,
Then he responds “I’m taking you to a bush so I can rape you”
Hello there, we are extremely concerned to hear about this. Please send us the phone number linked to your Uber account in a DM along with more details regarding what happened and the driver-partner's name so that we can make things right.
Hello there, we understand you're frustrated. Please know that we work on taking the needful actions with the driver-partners who violate our terms and conditions, which may reach in some cases fully rejecting them from the app.
