If you’ve ever stood outside a mall trying to spot your Bolt in a sea of identical cars, you’ll understand why the company is rolling out Rider Profile Photo in South Africa. From this month, riders will be asked to snap a live selfie in the app — no gallery uploads — to make it easier for drivers to identify them.
The timing isn’t accidental. According to the Institute for Security Studies, kidnappings in South Africa have risen by 264% over the past decade, with 17 061 cases recorded in 2023/24 alone. Most are linked to armed robberies, carjackings, or “express kidnappings” designed to steal money quickly. Gauteng alone accounts for over 50% of these cases, highlighting the concentrated risk in urban hubs where ride-hailing is common.
Bolt frames Rider Profile Photo as a trust-builder. Drivers see who they’re supposed to pick up, making impersonation harder and reducing uncertainty at busy or poorly lit pickup points. Senior Operations Manager for South Africa, Simo Kalajdzic, says: “Rider Profile Photo is more than a feature. It’s part of our commitment to building trust and making every ride feel safer for both drivers and riders.”
On the surface, it’s logical. Better matching could cut down on scams, and the deterrent effect of having your face tied to your account might discourage fraud. And if something does go wrong, there’s at least a digital paper trail for investigators.
But here’s the catch: in a country where kidnappings are rising, having selfies of riders before rides take place could potentially be misused by criminals. If photos are accessed by a malicious actor — through a data breach, insider access, or weak app security — they could help kidnappers pre-select victims, match names to faces, and even anticipate routines. A feature meant to increase safety could inadvertently provide a roadmap for targeting, if the data isn’t strictly protected.
Selfies alone cannot stop opportunistic kidnappings. They may reduce fraud and misidentification, but they won’t prevent a determined criminal from coercing a driver or rider. Rider Profile Photo introduces a new layer of friction meant to increase trust, but it also introduces a potential new risk vector.
There’s also an awkward power imbalance: riders must reveal their faces before every trip, while drivers remain relatively anonymous until they pull up. For women and vulnerable groups, this asymmetry could feel like exposure without protection — unless Bolt commits to the same level of verification on the driver side.
Still, Rider Profile Photo isn’t meaningless. It dovetails neatly with Bolt’s Women for Women category, where women drivers are paired with verified women passengers. That category already uses live selfies and ID checks. Extending the approach to all riders suggests Bolt is trying to normalise more accountability across its platform.
Similar safety initiatives have appeared in other ride-hailing platforms. For example, Uber’s new verification process for female drivers is designed to ensure that only trusted passengers can request women-only trips.
The real question is whether Bolt will treat Rider Profile Photo as a box-ticking PR moment, or as part of a bigger rethink of how ride-hailing safety actually works in South Africa. A selfie might make your next pickup in Joburg a little less awkward. But in a country where kidnappings are spiking, it’s not enough to keep you safe. Bolt has put faces on the problem — now it has to show it’s serious about protecting them.