Uber Bakkie Service Launched In South Africa

South Africa is the first market worldwide to launch the offering - which, if it's launched in other markets, presumably won't have the word "bakkie" in its name.

"Johannesburg residents will be the first to be able to request Courier Bakkies, with Cape Town and Durban to follow soon," Uber said in a statement on Thursday. "Not only does this bring a wider selection of services to users, but it opens up additional earning avenues for drivers."

When users open the Uber app and set a destination, they will now see the Courier Bakkie product under the "rides" interface, the company said.

"The larger utility vehicles will help small to medium-sized businesses that have frequent delivery needs and limited resources to move assets between branches or heavier items to customers," it added.