Uber suspends motorcycle product for consumers in SA

Uber, the world’s largest ride-hailing platform, has suspended its motorcycle product for consumers in South Africa, about a year after its launch.

This comes as the e-hailer announced earlier this week that it has moved to cut its popular Uber X product in South Africa to simplify offerings to its customers. At the time it was unclear whether customers would continue to have access to the company’s cheapest options: “Moto”, using motorcycles, and “Electric”, which makes use of electric vehicles.

A spokesperson for the company told Business Day the Moto service “is currently paused as we evaluate the feedback and insights gathered during its pilot phase”.

Uber launched the offering that allows people to take rides on motorcycles at the start of 2025, in the hope of drawing more users to its transport marketplace.

The service, Uber Moto, was initially available in the western suburbs of Johannesburg, which included Braamfontein, Melville, Greenside, Brixton, Mayfair, Fordsburg, Rossmore, Langlaagte, Richmond and the University of Johannesburg.

“We realised there’s a large percentage of the population that just don’t have access to transportation,” Uber’s GM for sub-Saharan Africa, Deepesh Thomas, told Business Day in June 2025.

Having firmly established e-hailing as a mainstream transport option, competition has moved to the lower end of the market, where work is being done to capture price-sensitive customers

“There are gaps in the public transportation [system]. There are also gaps in the likes of Uber, and our competitors, that don’t cater for the 3km to 4km last mile trips, whether it is into or out of taxi ranks, for example.”

Though a first for SA, this mode of transport was a mainstay elsewhere in the world, such as Nigeria and India. For now, it appears that the company is assessing whether to continue with the service or not. Customers will continue having access to the electric product, with the company saying: “The Uber Electric service continues to be accessible on our platform.”

Uber launched a range of electric vehicles for use on its platform in South Africa in November 2025. The company has an ambitious goal of having all rides on its platform be undertaken in EVs by 2040, in line with several countries and organisations that have made similar pledges to reduce carbon emissions.

Uber South Africa’s move to cut UberX, for instance, appears to be a reaction to too many options — Moto, Electric, Go, X, Comfort and Black — a situation usually seen as causing confusion for customers.

Uber launched its operations locally in 2013 and is the biggest player in South Africa, with operations in 24 towns and cities, including Cape Town, Durban, Joburg, Pretoria and Gqeberha.

Over the years the platform has undergone major changes, starting off as an on-demand chauffeur service for high-end customers to where rides are now offered at various price points, with the addition of food and package delivery as well as the ability to move furniture and other large items.

Its main rival, Bolt, also offers e-hailing services across various price points. Both companies have benefited mainly from middle-income consumers looking for a more reliable form of daily transport beyond the typical public options.

Having firmly established e-hailing as a mainstream transport option, competition has moved to the lower end of the market, where work is being done to capture price-sensitive customers.

The country is estimated to be home to about 100,000 e-hailing drivers and more than 2-million passengers.