Driven to the brink: Understanding digital labour platform precarity among UberGo e-hailing drivers

Digital labour platforms have been critiqued for the ways in which their new business models have informalized labour through labour reclassification, dynamic pricing practices and algorithmic rating systems of work management and evaluation. This business model led to the transferal of risk and insecurity to the platform workers, contributing to the rise of what Guy Standing terms the 'precariat'- a social class whose employment and income are insecure, negatively affecting material or psychological welfare. This study presents findings from semi-structured, qualitative research conducted with ten (N=10) e-hailing drivers of UberGo – a new low-cost ride-hailing offering on the Uber platform in South Africa. The paper uses the lenses of precarity and the cognitive, relational approach for work-induced stress to highlight the livelihood vulnerabilities (loss of earnings and job security) and coping strategies necessitated by the imposition of the UberGo offering. We invoke the Fairwork principles to propose ways to realize a decent and fairer future of platform work.