Bolt South Africa, an e-hailing platform operating within the national transportation sector, is implementing passenger identity verification as it navigates the country's recent regulatory overhaul. The company requires riders to submit a South African identification number and a selfie, which the system cross-checks against Department of Home Affairs records to authorize access.
The identity deployment follows Bolt receiving a Certificate of Registration from the National Public Transport Regulator in February 2026. The platform is coordinating with provincial authorities to integrate these security systems and bring local operators into compliance with the National Land Transport Amendment Act of 2023 and the Second National Land Transport Regulations of 2025.
"Bolt was one of the first major platforms to register under the new regulatory framework, but leadership cannot end with our own compliance," said Fikile Nzuza-Chunga, Senior Public Policy Manager at Bolt South Africa. "Operators must understand what the law requires, licensing processes must work in practice and the institutions responsible for implementation must remain accessible."
The security protocol addresses the disparity between the identity checks required for drivers versus those mandated for passengers. Under the current rollout, the verification process completes in minutes. If the automatic system fails to authenticate the user, the platform requires manual document checks before granting access.
"Strengthening rider verification helps close an important safety gap and supports greater accountability on both sides of the platform," Nzuza-Chunga said, adding that verification alone was "not a complete solution" but part of a broader safety system.
Beyond user verification, Bolt is sharing operational data with government entities to address administrative bottlenecks. During a regulatory session in Rustenburg on August 18 attended by more than 150 operators, the North West Provincial Regulatory Entity reported a backlog of 3,000 to 5,000 pending operating-licence applications. Bolt agreed to submit its operator base data to assist the provincial regulator in processing the pending documents.
Similar engagements occurred during a Cape Town transport dialogue on August 21 involving the city municipality alongside provincial traffic and mobility departments. The discussions resulted in the Western Cape licensing department committing to add e-hailing as a distinct service option for new applications. The meetings also established frameworks for coexistence with the minibus taxi industry, represented by SANTACO, which agreed to engage with e-hailing operators to resolve disputes.
The company plans to expand this engagement model to other provinces.
"The success of the new framework will be measured by whether operators can obtain licences, whether passengers and drivers are safer and whether different parts of the transport industry can work together," Nzuza-Chunga said.
