Why no bicycle delivery services in South Africa

[MilkManMike]

Just a thought, why do the UBER eats/Mr D/Bolt Food etc crowd not have bicycle delivery people in South Africa. Especially with E-bikes becoming main stream now, this makes so much more sense than the scooters and cars for local deliveries, especially in daylight hours.

All over the rest of the world, this is pretty normal. I work overseas on rotation, so often I’m home for a couple weeks at a time on leave. My fiancé works a normal day job, so during the week, I have a lot of free time. When we lived in Dublin, when I was on RnR I did bike deliveries for UBER eats and UBER connect, as well as DoorDash, basically just when I felt like it. Was often a cool way to find new routes around the city, or a motivation to ride when the weather was crap and so on, and the payment was pretty decent, which helped.

 

This morning I tried signing up for Uber Eats and Bolt, but neither offer a bicycle option for Cape Town. Tried Door Dash, but the app doesn’t even show up in the play store, so I’m assuming it’s not available in South Africa, although Im sure I have seen door dash delivery guys in Cape Town before. Pretty disappointed… I’m on a three month RnR now, while waiting sorting out new work permits and so on… only two weeks in, and already pretty bored at home.

[The Ouzo]

Good question. Have also thought that it would be a good idea.

 

I know someone on here tried doing his own bicycle courier type thing at one stage.

[Steady Spin]

Mr D has electric/pedal delivery bikes. 

[Bub Marley]

7 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Mr D has electric/pedal delivery bikes. 

Yes. I’ve seen these on the road.

[MilkManMike]

8 minutes ago, Steady Spin said:

Mr D has electric/pedal delivery bikes. 

Okay, good to know, but Mr D, unlike Uber/Door Dash/Bolt etc, I think supplies the bikes to their delivery riders, so it would be some sort of contracted in situation. At least it seems that way with the motor bikes. I haven’t personally seen the e-bikes. I specifically would want to use my own bike, and work only when I choose. 
 

will look into it though, thanks for letting me know.

[The Ouzo]

1 minute ago, MilkManMike said:

Okay, good to know, but Mr D, unlike Uber/Door Dash/Bolt etc, I think supplies the bikes to their delivery riders, so it would be some sort of contracted in situation. At least it seems that way with the motor bikes. I haven’t personally seen the e-bikes. I specifically would want to use my own bike, and work only when I choose. 
 

will look into it though, thanks for letting me know.

not really. Most of the MrD motor bikes are owned by other people, who then contract to MrD and rent the bikes to the riders. These owners will buy 5-10 bikes at a time, kit them out and then rent them to the riders.

Not sure how they get the riders, if they come via Mr D or go direct. But from what I'm told they are earning around 4k per week doing deliveries. 

[MilkManMike]

2 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

not really. Most of the MrD motor bikes are owned by other people, who then contract to MrD and rent the bikes to the riders. These owners will buy 5-10 bikes at a time, kit them out and then rent them to the riders.

Not sure how they get the riders, if they come via Mr D or go direct. But from what I'm told they are earning around 4k per week doing deliveries. 

Okay. I just assumed, because the guys are dressed in Mr D clothing, and the bikes are MrD branded that they provided them to contracted riders, unlike Uber/bolt which is more focused on individual contractors doing the deliveries.

 

[The Ouzo]

2 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

Okay. I just assumed, because the guys are dressed in Mr D clothing, and the bikes are MrD branded that they provided them to contracted riders, unlike Uber/bolt which is more focused on individual contractors doing the deliveries.

 

I know we supply the bikes with top boxes unbranded to the people buying them. 

I'm assuming they are registered with MrD as preferred bike renters and then the bikes are branded.

 

I have a mate that has a fleet of tuctucs. Last I recall the majority were used for Takealot (who owns MrD) . They would supply drivers etc. , he supplied the vehicles. 

[Steady Spin]

6 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

Okay. I just assumed, because the guys are dressed in Mr D clothing, and the bikes are MrD branded that they provided them to contracted riders, unlike Uber/bolt which is more focused on individual contractors doing the deliveries.

 

The amount of times a MrD branded oke with a bike delivered an Uber Eats order is quite funny. 

These okes deliver for every possible service they can. 

[Ispeed_V]

IMHO, two predominant reasons:

1. Safety

2. Criminal Aspect

 

[MilkManMike]

16 minutes ago, FondTF2 said:

IMHO, two predominant reasons:

1. Safety

2. Criminal Aspect

 

I think this is very much area specific. But At least in many parts of Cape Town/Stellenbosch/Somerset West/Gordon’s Bay/Strand etc, I don’t see safety being a major issue. Can’t really see how the motorbikes are any safer than a bicycle would be. 
 

Obviously bicycles would be limited to a smaller radius from the pick up point than a scooter or motorbike would be. So there is definately a case for using both methods. Bicycles restricted to deliveries within 5km radius of the pickup point, while scooters can deliver in the 5km Zone, and further also. Maybe have a particular cut off time for bicycle deliveries, so no bike deliveries after dark etc.

 

I’m not thinking only for my own selfish reasons of wanting to be able to do this, but also the job creation side of it. A cheap bike is a much lower barrier to entry than a motorbike. Meaning more really desperate people could become directly involved in the delivery value chain, truly working for themselves, instead of being exploited by the cartels who now buy all the scooters, and pay desperate people peanuts to work as riders for them.

 

in Dublin as an example, although obviously very different to South Africa, loads of people I met while doing bike deliveries, had lost pretty much everything during covid. They could put food on the table at least by doing bike deliveries. Some even used the city bikes that you rent per hour/day all over the city, while saving up to buy their own bikes, and it was still worth their while, because you could rent a city bike for a couple of euro a day, pick it up anywhere in town, drop it off again anywhere after your shift, and catch the bus back home. If they were only allowed to use motorbikes for delivery, this would never have worked.

Edited May 30, 2023 by MilkManMike

[The Ouzo]

11 minutes ago, MilkManMike said:

I think this is very much area specific. But At least in many parts of Cape Town/Stellenbosch/Somerset West/Gordon’s Bay/Strand etc, I don’t see safety being a major issue. Can’t really see how the motorbikes are any safer than a bicycle would be. 
 

Obviously bicycles would be limited to a smaller radius from the pick up point than a scooter or motorbike would be. So there is definately a case for using both methods. Bicycles restricted to deliveries within 5km radius of the pickup point, while scooters can deliver in the 5km Zone, and further also. Maybe have a particular cut off time for bicycle deliveries, so no bike deliveries after dark etc.

 

I’m not thinking only for my own selfish reasons of wanting to be able to do this, but also the job creation side of it. A cheap bike is a much lower barrier to entry than a motorbike. Meaning more really desperate people could become directly involved in the delivery value chain, truly working for themselves, instead of being exploited by the cartels who now buy all the scooters, and pay desperate people peanuts to work as riders for them.

 

in Dublin as an example, although obviously very different to South Africa, loads of people I met while doing bike deliveries, had lost pretty much everything during covid. They could put food on the table at least by doing bike deliveries. Some even used the city bikes that you rent per hour/day all over the city, while saving up to buy their own bikes, and it was still worth their while, because you could rent a city bike for a couple of euro a day, pick it up anywhere in town, drop it off again anywhere after your shift, and catch the bus back home. If they were only allowed to use motorbikes for delivery, this would never have worked.

apparently they are hijacking the scooters now too. But I suspect this is more as a means of gaining entry into premises whilst posing as a MrD.

 

I personally would not mind doing deliveries on the bicycle to supplement income

[Nico van Loggerenberg]

Safety from drivers at night would be my main concern. I saw 3 accidents this last month involving delivery scooters, and I don't drive a lot. All 3 were grim. South African drivers are bad enough during the day, add night time and loadshedding into the mix? HECTIC bru

[Ispeed_V]

Slightly off topic though.

Have always wondered what would happen if you took an Ice Cream Delivery person or a Post Office delivery person that ride those heavy bikes around and put them on a decent specked road bike, how they would fare?

 

[MilkManMike]

7 minutes ago, The Ouzo said:

apparently they are hijacking the scooters now too. But I suspect this is more as a means of gaining entry into premises whilst posing as a MrD.

 

I personally would not mind doing deliveries on the bicycle to supplement income

Yes, this is an issue, but essentially in that case, they only really need to steal the phone of a connected delivery person, because that’s where we send them the gate access codes etc.

[MilkManMike]

14 minutes ago, Nico van Loggerenberg said:

Safety from drivers at night would be my main concern. I saw 3 accidents this last month involving delivery scooters, and I don't drive a lot. All 3 were grim. South African drivers are bad enough during the day, add night time and loadshedding into the mix? HECTIC bru

This yes, a Uber eats delivery guy was knocked off his bike on the corner of our street yesterday afternoon actually… and it’s a pretty quiet neighbourhood… but a lot of this is down to the really bad riding of the delivery scooter guys too, many of whom I don’t think have any training what so ever. If you have no road safety training, and no real understanding of consequence, that’s always going to end badly, no matter what your riding. On a bicycle, one would expect them to be a little more weary of their surroundings. I do think in South Africa, bicycle based delivery riders should have a sunrise to sunset curfew though, because, well, it’s South Africa after all.
 

But, there is always a but. If you think of areas like see point/greenpoint, pretty much all of Stellenbosch, most of Somerset west, we actually have pretty cycle friendly road networks, and were riding on those roads all the time anyway, so it’s not exactly like I’m putting myself in any more danger than I did while doing my daily commute this afternoon, stopping at the pub for a beer on the way home, grabbing some groceries from the porra grocer, then cruising down Somerset west main road in the rain on my bike this afternoon.

Edited May 30, 2023 by MilkManMike