How to Become a Bolt Driver in South Africa

Overview

Bolt is a ride-hailing app, so the requirements look like Uber's. You need a PrDP, which is a professional driving permit for driving passengers for money, plus a criminal record check, a vehicle inspection, and an operating licence for the vehicle under the amended transport law.

Bolt is the clearest company here about the PrDP. Its guide says you must be 21, fingerprints take 5 to 10 working days, a temporary permit lasts 6 months, the card takes up to 12 weeks, and the whole thing costs about R768.

Bolt does not list a minimum age in its driver requirements. Because it requires a PrDP, and a passenger PrDP starts at 21, 21 is the real floor.

Like Uber, you do not need to own a car to register. Bolt points at a vehicle partner that rents to drivers.

Bolt also names the places it operates in. Its driver FAQ answers “Can I drive with Bolt in my city?” by pointing at that list, so we treat it as the driver coverage list. It names 23 South African places, more than any other passenger app here.

Requirements

Documents

Tick these off as you collect them

Application process

Bolt says the form takes about two minutes. Collecting the documents takes much longer.

You register online, saying which city you want to drive in and which licence you hold. Bolt then emails you the next steps.

• An active email address and a cell number on a RICA-registered SIM.
• A smartphone.
• A valid PrDP.
• A criminal record check.
• A clear photo of your head and shoulders, with no hat, cap or sunglasses.
• A cARscan vehicle inspection report.

Bolt also says the new e-hailing laws require all vehicle owners to apply for an operating licence. The Department of Transport gazetted those rules on 12 September 2025 for implementation, without giving a start date or a transition period.

Start the PrDP first. Everything else is faster.

Vehicles

Foreign documents

Compare every company on foreign documents

Can foreign nationals apply?

Bolt's sign-up requirements page does not list identity documents. It says nothing about work permits, asylum documents or refugee documents.

We record that as not confirmed, not as a refusal. Bolt has not said no.

One useful thing Bolt does say, in its separate PrDP guide: a foreign national takes a valid passport to the licensing centre, where a South African citizen takes an ID card or book. That is Bolt describing the government's permit process, not Bolt's own onboarding list, so do not read it as “Bolt accepts a passport”.

You still need a PrDP to carry passengers. The government's application page does not cover every foreign-document case, so ask the licensing centre what it accepts before you spend money on a medical, screening or a car.

Driver earnings

Two companies here give a rand figure. Bolt gives an income, and shows how it worked it out. Picup gives a rate card: what it pays per kilometre, which is a price, not an income.

The headline says up to R5 167 per week. The small print says that figure is the median income earned by drivers across South Africa between 1 and 30 June 2026.

What that does and does not mean:

• It is a median, so half the drivers in that month earned less.
• It is after Bolt's commission but before your own costs. Fuel, car rental or repayments, insurance, servicing, tyres, data and the operating licence all come out of it.
• It includes fares, campaigns and tips. Bolt says fares and campaigns change and vary by location, and that tips are up to the passenger.
• Bolt says the median in your area may be lower than the national median.
• Bolt says these earnings are paid by riders and are not guaranteed.
• It is one month of data, presented as a headline. It is not a wage.

Bolt says payouts are weekly, and that what you get is your net earnings after the commission fee.

Work out your own costs before you decide whether that number is worth it. A rented car with fuel can take a large share of a weekly figure like that.

Questions people ask

Sources

• Bolt cities Company page Bolt. Read on 6 September 2026 . Bolt's driver FAQ answers “Can I drive with Bolt in my city?” by pointing at this list, so it is the driver coverage list. Names 23 South African locations. Uses the older names Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown, and lists Garden Route as a region rather than a town.
• Bolt driver sign-up requirements Company page Bolt. Read on 6 September 2026 . Lists an email address, a RICA-registered cell number, a smartphone, a valid PrDP, a criminal record check, a head-and-shoulders photo and a cARscan inspection report, and says the new e-hailing laws require all vehicle owners to apply for an operating licence. States no minimum age, no licence code, no identity documents and no insurance requirement.
• Bolt official website Company page Bolt. Read date not recorded . Placeholder. Replace with the platform's own driver sign-up or requirements page, then record the date you checked it.
• Bolt: PrDP applications Company page Bolt. Read on 6 September 2026 . Says you must be at least 21 to apply for a PrDP, that Afiswitch fingerprint processing takes 5 to 10 working days, that a temporary PrDP lasts 6 months and that the card can take up to 12 weeks. Puts the total cost at about R768 based on a R250 medical. For identification it names an ID card or book for South African citizens and a valid passport for foreign nationals.
• Sign up to drive with Bolt Company page Bolt. Read on 6 September 2026 . Headline says “Earn up to R5 167 per week”. The small print says that figure is the median income earned by drivers in South Africa between 1 and 30 June 2026, that earnings are paid by riders and are not guaranteed, that final earnings are after the commission fee, that they include fares, campaigns and tips, and that the median in your area may be lower. Also says payouts are weekly and net of commission, and that a driver without a car can rent from a partner.