Every August, South Africa turns its attention to the achievements, resilience and contributions of women.
But Women’s Month can also force the country to confront a difficult question: How free do women really feel to move through everyday life?
In 2026, that question carries added historical weight. South Africa marks 70 years since the 1956 Women’s March, when about 20,000 women united in protest against laws that restricted their freedom of movement.
Seven decades later, freedom of movement remains a very different experience for many women.
The invisible rules women live by
For many women, safety planning starts before they even leave home.
It can mean telling a friend where they are going and when they expect to return. It can mean sharing a live location. It can mean avoiding certain places after dark.
Sometimes, it means pretending to have a partner to discourage unwanted attention.
These behaviours can become so familiar that they stop feeling like safety strategies. They simply become part of everyday life.
Yet the reason behind them remains serious.
According to the South African Government, more than one in three South African women have experienced physical or sexual violence during their lifetime.
That reality means industries that play a role in women’s everyday lives must ask a difficult question: What can we do to reduce the uncertainty women experience?
For Ashif Black, Country Representative for South Africa at inDrive, the mobility industry has a particular responsibility.
The answer, he argues, starts with giving passengers greater confidence, visibility and control throughout their journeys.
Safety starts before the car arrives
A journey does not begin when the vehicle starts moving.
It begins when someone decides where they are going, waits for a driver and tries to identify the correct meeting point.
For a woman standing alone at a busy shopping centre, transport hub or office park, finding the right pickup location can become more than a minor inconvenience.
Uncertainty can mean spending additional time in an unfamiliar environment.
This is one of the areas where inDrive says it has focused its product development.
Its Panorama View feature provides a street-level image of a pickup location where available. Recommended Pickup Points are designed to guide passengers towards clearer meeting locations.
The objective is straightforward: reduce uncertainty before the journey begins.
Information can change how a journey feels
Knowing who is arriving matters.
So does knowing whether a passenger can travel with friends, whether personal contact details need to be shared and whether someone trusted can monitor the journey.
Driver verification gives passengers greater confidence that the person arriving corresponds with the information displayed in the app.
The platform also offers features designed to help passengers stay connected.
With Share your ride, passengers can send someone a live link so that person can follow the journey in real time.
Trusted Contacts allows passengers to save important contacts and reach them quickly if something feels wrong.
In-app calling also allows passengers and drivers to communicate without revealing personal phone numbers.
And when assistance is required, in-app support is available.
None of these features can solve gender-based violence.
But reducing uncertainty can still matter.
Sometimes safety is not one dramatic intervention. It is a series of smaller decisions that give someone more information and more control.
Sometimes travelling together is the answer
The platform also offers different ride options based on passenger needs.
One example is the XL option, which allows groups to travel together rather than splitting between separate vehicles.
Again, it is not a revolutionary concept.
But that is precisely the point.
Safety does not always require something extraordinary. Removing small moments of uncertainty before they become stressful can make everyday journeys feel more manageable.
Technology cannot carry this responsibility alone
There is, however, a much bigger issue behind the conversation.
Technology can support safer journeys, but it cannot solve a societal crisis on its own.
Creating environments where women feel safe requires action from far beyond the mobility sector.
Government has a role.
Law enforcement has a role.
Businesses, urban planners and communities have a role.
So do individuals.
Better lighting around transport hubs and public spaces can reduce risk. Faster responses to gender-based violence reports matter. Stronger prosecution of offenders matters. Education around respect and consent matters.
The responsibility cannot be placed on women to continually change their behaviour to avoid danger.
Nor can it rest solely with technology companies adding features to their platforms.
What does freedom of movement look like today?
The legacy of the 1956 Women’s March is not simply a historical milestone.
It is also a reminder that movement, independence and safety are deeply connected.
Seventy years after thousands of women marched to challenge restrictions on their freedom, South Africa must continue asking whether women can move through the country with the freedom they deserve.
For the mobility industry, that means continuing to listen.
It means understanding that safety is shaped by the entire journey, not simply the minutes spent inside a vehicle.
And it means recognising the value of small improvements.
A clearer pickup point.
A verified driver.
A live journey shared with someone trusted.
A private way to communicate.
An option to travel together.
None is a complete answer.
But each can remove one more moment of uncertainty.
And when millions of journeys happen every day, those moments matter.
