News24 reports that ride-hailing app Uber has launched a women-only feature that will give female drivers the option to select a preference to pick up passengers of the same sex.

Uber sub-Saharan Africa head of policy Busisiwe Khaba said on Thursday: "We have already doubled the number of women in our active driver base, and launching the 'Women Preferred View' feature is another positive move towards paving the way for more women to take part in the ride-sharing industry. We are also excited that this feature enables current female drivers with the power of choice and convenience when using the Uber app." This feature came after months of research and pilot programmes, with the aim of encouraging more women to drive on the platform, therefore "increasing access to flexible economic opportunities provided by Uber". Female drivers can activate the feature at any time by switching on the rider gender preference in their driver app settings, while passengers, on the other hand, will be notified about the feature and will be asked to specify their gender on the app. These features come in light of the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide in the country.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Canny Maphanga at News24

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