Uber South Africa has announced that UberRUSH – its pioneer delivery service which has operated in the US – will reach local shores within the coming months.
While Uber South Africa has had a tumultuous start to 2017 with metered taxi drivers staging open protest against the service in the vicinity of OR Tambo International Airport, the firm has confirmed some good news; that UberRUSH, the delivery service first pioneered in the US, will reach South Africa in the coming months.
The news comes courtesy of the Sunday Times, which has reported that Uber South Africa will begin trialing the service locally within the next six months.
Read: Uber’s city-mapping cars will hit the road in Johannesburg
UberRUSH was revealed in 2015, where the service was hailed as a new frontier for the ride-hailing app; with the release of its API, UberRUSH allows consumers to have their online purchases delivered on the same day by an Uber driver-partner for a courier’s fee.
UberRUSH first originated as a bike courier service in Manhattan, and was officially launched in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco at the tail end of 2015.
The feature is an important expansion for Uber, which has traditionally relied on transporting people, not objects. While it is presently unclear as to how UberRUSH will function in South Africa – and indeed whether delivery-by-bicycle would be retained – Uber South Africa General Manager Alon Lits has cited that the service would “complement, not compete” with other courier services.
It remains to be seen how South Africans will adopt the service, given the severe pushback Uber has received for disrupting the traditional metered taxi industry in the country.
Read: UberEATS officially launches in Cape Town, promises meals in 45 minutes
What are your thoughts? Would you opt to use UberRUSH as either a consumer or business owner? Be sure to let us know your opinion in the comments below!
Follow Bryan Smith on Twitter: @bryansmithSA
