DiDi expands to Cape Town

DiDi enters the Cape Town market with a commitment to bringing entrepreneurship opportunities and safer, more accessible mobility options. DiDi, the world’s leading mobility platform, has started its registration process for drivers in Cape Town, South Africa, and will begin offering ride-hailing services in the province over the next few weeks. This new expansion follows a very successful pilot launch in Gqeberha, South Africa, on 1 March 2021. Since then, more than 2,000 drivers in the city have already downloaded the DiDi Drivers app, enabling more than 20,000 local residents, who have already signed up with DiDi, get to where they need to be safely and affordably. Much more than just another ridehailing service, DiDi focuses on providing high-level resources, safe and flexible entrepreneurship opportunities for driverpartners, and reliable mobility options for the public. In a country like South Africa, where unemployment rates and safety are major concerns, this platform is not only much-needed but highly valuable. “The pandemic has had a huge impact in South Africa and has rapidly changed our lives. As such, we decided to launch the DiDi platform in the country and offer a necessary, high-quality tool to mobilise recovery and reconstruction. Our platform creates better income opportunities for drivers and safer and more affordable mobility alternatives for the people of Cape Town, and hopefully the rest of South Africa very soon,” said Lyn Ma, DiDi’s General Manager for Africa. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, DiDi continues to focus on providing resources, safe and flexible entrepreneurship opportunities and reliable mobility options to new regions and people. With its launch in South Africa, DiDi delivers a wide range of safety features to benefit users and driving partners, including facial recognition for drivers, SOS buttons for riders and drivers linked to the local police, 24/7 support via a dedicated safety hotline, preview information for riders and drivers, and safety training for drivers, among others. Since February 2020, DiDi’s anti-COVID experience has created strong and positive results in addressing local challenges by: • Introducing Health Guard technologies to ensure that masks are worn during trips and that all vehicles are disinfected • Providing financial assistance to driverpartners in overseas markets through a dedicated US$10 million relief fund Beyond investments in these special programs, DiDi remains dedicated to protecting the health and safety of its users and providing safe, affordable and convenient services.

The launch and expansion of DiDi in South Africa marks another milestone for the company’s fast-growing network of international markets, which now includes 14 countries outside of China, including Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, Russia, the Dominican Republic, and Argentina.

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