Wanatu 'afrikaans Uber' In Hot Water Over Permits

Wanatu, the new e-hailing company based in Tshwane that only employs Afrikaans -speaking drivers, has come under scrutiny on whether it has permits to operate or not.

According to the National Land Transport Act 5 of 2009 , any person or company transporting passengers for financial gain must obtain a public operating licence.

Ayanda Allie, a member of Gautengs provincial legislature for Build South Africa BOSA, alleged on Tuesday 4 February that Wanatu does not have a permit to operate as an e-hailing company.

In a video shared on X, Allie said the companys, CEO Judith van der Walt, had told her that she was not entirely sure what a vehicle permit was and what it looked like, let alone whether they had any.

She also conceded that she was unaware that permits were required for e-hailing. We quickly established that Wanatu drivers do not have permits to operate and had never had a single vehicle impounded, Allie claimed.

Allie tagged Tlangi Mogale, the City of Tshwane member of mayoral council MMC for Roads and Transport, on her post. In response, Mogale revealed that they had discovered the company last week and had impounded one of their vehicles.

They sent their lawyer to come and make representations to try and get the vehicle released. He could not succeed as he was told that the vehicle didn't have an operating licence. He could not understand, and he was referred to the provincial TOLAB Transport Operating Licence Administrative Board in Tshwane, the MMC explained.

He then said they are transporting learners in the Centurion area. He was then told that they should apply for learner/scholar transport operating licences.

Further, please note that the company is also under the scrutiny of the Human Rights Commission as they say they only recruit Afrikaans-speaking drivers and we've said it's unacceptable. We have also engaged with the MMC of Community Safety regarding this operation.

Wanatu had not publicly reacted to Allie and Mogales comments at the time of publishing. It was launched in October last year, according to a News24 report .