Uber is retiring its most popular ride option in South Africa after more than a decade
Uber is phasing out UberX in South Africa after more than a decade, reshaping its ride-hailing offering as competition grows and the country’s e-hailing industry enters a new regulatory era. | Business Insider Africa
Uber is phasing out UberX in South Africa, ending one of the ride-hailing company’s oldest and historically most popular services in one of Africa’s biggest digital transport markets. The company confirmed that UberX, its standard ride category, will be discontinued as it restructures its South African product offering and seeks to create clearer distinctions between its increasingly crowded range of services. UberX was among the company’s earliest offerings when Uber entered South Africa in 2013 and subsequently became a central part of its expansion in the country. Uber toldNews24that the proliferation of ride categories over the years had made it increasingly difficult for customers to distinguish between some products, while also reducing the advantage enjoyed by drivers operating higher-specification vehicles. “The decision to phase out UberX is intended to simplify the product portfolio and create clearer categories for both riders and drivers,” an Uber spokesperson said. The company said UberX drivers will not automatically lose access to the platform. Instead, they will be able to take trips through other Uber categories for which their vehicles meet the eligibility requirements. The move effectively redraws Uber’s South African pricing ladder, with Uber Go occupying the lower-cost end of the market while products including Uber Comfort and Uber Black cater to customers seeking higher-specification vehicles and services. Uber Go, which generally uses smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles, first appeared in South Africa in 2017 before being rolled out more broadly in 2021. Uber described it at the time as a lower-cost option alongside UberX and Uber Black. The significance of UberX’s withdrawal goes beyond the disappearance of another option from the app. As recently as 2023, Uber described UberX as its most popular ride option in South Africa. Its retirement therefore marks a notable shift in the company’s strategy in a market where Uber has spent more than a decade expanding beyond the simple economy-versus-premium model with which it initially built its business. Uber’s South African business has changed significantlySouth Africa has been an important market in Uber’s African expansion. The US company entered the country in 2013, making South Africa one of its earliest African markets. Since then, its offering has expanded well beyond UberX and premium Uber Black rides. Customers can now encounter options ranging from Uber Go and larger-capacity vehicles to courier services, electric-vehicle rides and, more recently, motorbike trips in parts of Gauteng. The growing number of categories gives Uber more ways to target customers according to price, vehicle quality and trip type, but it also creates overlap between products. That appears to be what Uber is now trying to correct. The shift towards Uber Go is particularly significant in a market where affordability remains central to competition. Uber originally promoted the service around smaller, fuel-efficient vehicles and cheaper fares, giving it a product designed specifically to compete for price-sensitive trips. Uber is also facing a much more crowded South African ride-hailing market than when it arrived more than a decade ago. Global rivals including Bolt and inDrive operate alongside smaller and locally focused platforms, increasing pressure on operators to compete on price, safety and service differentiation. South Africa tightens rules around ride-hailingUber’s product overhaul is also taking place as South Africa formalises an e-hailing industry that spent years operating under regulations largely designed for older forms of public transport. The government implemented amendments to the National Land Transport framework in September 2025 that formally recognise e-hailing as a distinct public transport service. The new framework requires e-hailing platform providers to register with the National Public Transport Regulator, while drivers are required to hold operating licences. It also introduced requirements covering driver vetting, vehicle identification and safety measures. South Africa’s Department of Transport said the changes were intended to bring greater stability to the relationship between e-hailing operators, metered taxis and the country’s powerful minibus taxi industry. For Uber, the retirement of UberX therefore comes at a transitional moment. The company that entered South Africa with a relatively simple proposition more than a decade ago is now operating in a market with more competitors, more regulation and a much wider range of ride categories.