Ride-hailing company Bolt has revealed that Isaac Satlat, the Nigerian student killed in Pretoria, was not an authorised driver on its platform and was operating illegally at the time he was attacked.

Satlat, 22, was reportedly murdered after picking up passengers who allegedly strangled him and fled with his vehicle. South African police have arrested four suspects in connection with the killing, and a magistrates’ court has remanded them while investigations continue.

In a statement shared on its verified social media channels, Bolt confirmed that an internal probe uncovered serious irregularities in the driver profile used for the trip during which Satlat was killed.

According to the company, Satlat was not the registered owner of the Bolt driver account that was active. The profile belonged to another man, identified as Wiseman Makobe, a duly registered driver with an active Bolt account.

Bolt said Makobe had completed the required verification process earlier that day, after which Satlat used Makobe’s profile to accept and complete trips. The company described this as a clear case of profile sharing, a practice explicitly banned on the platform.

Profile sharing occurs when a registered driver hands over their account to another person, allowing them to operate under a false identity. Bolt stressed that the practice undermines passenger trust, compromises safety checks, and violates its agreements with drivers.

The company said Makobe’s account has now been permanently blocked and banned from operating on the platform. It added that it employs several safeguards to detect and prevent impersonation, including mandatory identity verification, periodic in-app selfie checks, device monitoring, and data-driven risk detection tools.

Bolt also clarified that its compensation and support schemes apply only when drivers are operating lawfully under their own verified profiles. Benefits such as death and disability compensation or coverage of medical expenses do not extend to individuals using another person’s account.

The case has intensified scrutiny of safety standards in South Africa’s e-hailing industry, which has seen repeated incidents of robbery, assault, and hijacking targeting both drivers and passengers.

Bolt said it supports ongoing efforts to formally regulate the sector in South Africa, describing new rules as crucial to improving safety, accountability, and certainty for operators and users. The company added that it is cooperating with authorities and will withhold further details to protect the integrity of the investigation.