Ride-hailing company Bolt has distanced itself from the tragic killing of 22-year-old Nigerian student Isaac Satlat in Pretoria, South Africa, revealing that he was not a registered driver on its platform at the time of the incident.
Satlat was reportedly murdered on February 11, 2026, after picking up passengers believed to be carjackers who allegedly strangled him.
South African authorities have arrested four suspects in connection with the crime, and a magistrates’ court has remanded them in custody.
In a statement dated February 17, 2026, and shared on its verified Facebook page, Bolt expressed condolences to Satlat’s family but disclosed that its internal investigation uncovered “irregularities” linked to the driver account used during the fatal trip.
According to the company, Satlat was not the registered owner of the active Bolt driver profile at the time of the incident. The account belonged to Wiseman Makobe, a verified driver on the platform.
Bolt alleged that after Makobe completed the required verification process on the day of the incident, Satlat operated using his profile a practice known as profile sharing.
The company confirmed that the account has since been permanently hard-blocked and banned from operating.
Bolt described profile sharing where a registered driver allows another person to use their account as a serious violation of its policies.
“Profile sharing undermines passenger trust, compromises safety, and violates our agreements with drivers,” the statement said.
The company noted that it has introduced safeguards such as mandatory identity verification, regular in-app selfie checks, device monitoring, and data-driven risk detection systems to curb such practices.
Bolt clarified that its compensation policies which cover death, serious injury, disability, and medical expenses apply only when drivers are operating lawfully under their own verified accounts.
It stressed that where impersonation or profile sharing occurs, the individual is considered to be operating unlawfully and outside the platform’s protections, making compensation inapplicable in such cases.
The killing comes amid growing concerns about safety in South Africa’s e-hailing industry, which has faced incidents of robbery, assault, and vehicle hijacking involving both drivers and passengers in recent years.
Bolt said it welcomes the formal regulation of the sector in South Africa, describing new measures as a significant step toward improving accountability and safety standards.
“Bolt continues to operate in South Africa, one of our largest markets globally. We are fully committed to aligning with the regulatory framework and collaborating with government and stakeholders to support drivers and ensure compliance,” the company stated.
The firm added that it would not release further details to avoid compromising the ongoing police investigation.
