Babes Wodumo dragged for allegedly not paying Uber driver since 2019
An Uber driver has resurfaced with claims that South African Gqom star Babes Wodumo still owes him money for a trip he completed six years ago.
Percy Bhengu, who drove full-time in 2019, took to the artist’s social media page this week to demand payment, and to warn others not to fall into the same trap.
Bhengu says the experience began as an exciting opportunity.
He was hired by Babes and her sister, Nondumiso Simelane, to transport them to a gig and later to an event hosted by DJ Tira at Wiseman’s Car Wash in KwaMashu, Durban.
What started out as a promising connection with high-profile clients ended in frustration, silence, and a six-year battle to retrieve just R900.
“In 2019, I was driving Uber full-time. Babes hired me to take her to a gig in Pongola,” he told Sunday World.
“At the last minute, she didn’t go, and instead her sister Nondumiso and a dancer went. That trip went fine, and I got paid.”
But his next job for the star was the beginning of a long ordeal. Bhengu claims he picked up Babes and her sister from their home in Westville and took them to DJ Tira’s shoot in KwaMashu.
During the ride, Babes allegedly asked him for cash to buy sanitary pads, promising to repay him later. Trusting her word, Bhengu agreed.
However, once they arrived at the venue, things took a turn.
“She suddenly said she couldn’t go in because she didn’t have makeup on and didn’t feel properly dressed. We were outside the car, and we could see the shoot preparations happening inside,” he recalled.
Babes then requested that he drive her back to Westville, which he did, but he says he wasn’t paid for either the trip or the borrowed cash.
That evening, he was called again, this time to drive them to The Sails at Durban’s Shaka Marine. He agreed, hoping to settle the outstanding payment. Instead, that was the last he saw of them.
“No payment, no refund, just nothing. My time, my fuel, my money, gone,” he said.
“You know the excitement of working with celebrities, thinking they’ll respect you, maybe even tip you? Turns out, it was all just a fairy tale.”
Bhengu says the total amount he is owed is R900, a figure that may sound small to some, but for him, it’s about principle.
“It may not sound like much, but that’s my money,” he said.
“With interest, who knows how much that would be today? I just want what I worked for.”
Despite multiple attempts to reach Babes and her sister, Bhengu says he’s been blocked and ignored.
“I never took the matter to the Small Claims Court because I kept hoping they’d pay up eventually. But now, I just want to make sure other people don’t get used the way I did.”
While the amount remains unpaid, Bhengu hopes that going public will at least serve as a warning to others working in the gig economy, especially when dealing with celebrity clients.
