Ride-hailing style technology for minibus taxis, an idea platforms like Aftarobot explored in Johannesburg from 2018, aimed to bring the scheduling visibility and route tracking of apps like Uber into an industry that has historically run on informal, in-person coordination.
The problem this kind of technology tries to solve
Minibus taxi commuters have traditionally had no way to know when a vehicle would arrive at a rank, forcing them to plan journeys around uncertainty rather than a reliable schedule, while taxi owners lacked visibility into where their vehicles were once they left the rank. Technology combining mobile apps, wireless connectivity and location tracking aimed to give both commuters and taxi associations the kind of operational visibility that formal transport networks already had.
Why digitising an informal transport network is genuinely difficult
Unlike a single company’s delivery fleet, a minibus taxi industry built around independent owners and drivers requires buy-in across an entire association before a shared digital system can deliver real value, since a platform only improves scheduling if enough drivers and owners actually use it consistently. This coordination challenge, more than the technology itself, has been the recurring obstacle for taxi-tech platforms attempting to modernise the industry.
What small businesses can learn from this kind of platform
Any business trying to digitise a traditionally informal, cash-based sector faces the same core challenge: technology alone doesn’t create adoption, genuine buy-in from the people who need to use it daily does. Solutions that reduce friction for the existing workforce, rather than requiring them to change how they work entirely, tend to gain more traction than those that demand a complete behavioural shift upfront.
Frequently asked questions
What problem were minibus taxi apps like Aftarobot trying to solve?
Giving commuters visibility into arrival times and taxi owners visibility into vehicle location, addressing the industry’s traditionally informal coordination.
Why is digitising the minibus taxi industry particularly challenging?
It requires buy-in from many independent owners and drivers across an association, not just from a single centralised fleet operator.
Do these coordination challenges apply to other informal-sector businesses too?
Yes, any business trying to digitise a traditionally informal or cash-based sector faces a similar adoption challenge.
What makes a digital tool more likely to gain adoption in an informal industry?
Reducing friction for how people already work, rather than requiring a complete change in behaviour upfront.
Is transport-sector digitisation still a relevant opportunity in South Africa?
Yes, informal transport remains a major part of the economy, and genuine coordination-focused solutions remain a real opportunity area.
Originally published in February 2018. Updated September 2026.
Transport sector policy via the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition.
Further reading
Originally published in February 2018. Updated September 2026 to reframe the coordination challenge these taxi-tech platforms hit as the same adoption barrier any business digitising an informal sector still faces today.
