It was just small talk. A quick conversation about the health of children, weather and politics. After all, Botswana is only a year away from the next general elections and naturally politics comes immediately after inquiries about the health of children.
But as soon as the inDrive cab driver realized his customer was a journalist, he made an interesting reflection. “We understand government wants to close us down, but I doubt if they know what it is they want to close down.”
This may be only two sentences, but it is actually a mouthful. InDrive is the first mover in the disruptive innovation of the Botswana public transport industry, and my cab driver believes the conversation should be about old taxi regulation [versus] new technology-based services. He believes that he does not need to play by the same rules as the incumbent taxi industry. This cavalier attitude towards taxi laws is now colliding with opposition and regulators. He however is not fazed. He sees himself as an agent of change and technological innovation. And this is not exactly misguided.
There's more to this story
But to keep reading, we need you to subscribe.
Investigative journalism is an indispensable part of a healthy society, but it's also expensive to produce. We are reliant on subscriptions to fund our work, and while you can enjoy most of our stories for free, a small number of premium features are reserved for subscribers.
You can subscribe for one week, a month or a full year - the choice is yours.
Save 77% on an annual subscription. Click here to find out how.
Existing subscribers can log in to keep reading here.
