Checkers has recently been criticized for its alleged bias in hiring foreign nationals rather than locals for its Sixty60 delivery service.This claim has led to a related concern about the driving qualifications of the individuals working for Sixty60, many of whom may not actually be eligible to ride a motorbike in South Africa.Foreign nationals on delivery appsCheckers Sixty60 was launched in 2019 and has quickly become the most popular grocery delivery app in South Africa with more than 5 million downloads.However, the reputed South African X (formerly Twitter) account Goolam (@goolammv) recently accused Sixty60 of using skewed hiring practices that favour foreigners over locals.Goolam has gained a reputation for the accuracy of sensitive information it publishes relating to South African politics and business practices, according to MyBroadband.The account alleged that 9,900 of the 9,987 jobs created by Checkers Sixty60 are filled by foreigners, which works out to 99.1% of the total workforce.It must be clarified that Shoprite (Checkers parent company) outsources all of the platforms logistics to its partner Pingo, which is a joint venture between Shoprite and RTT Logistics.Under South African labour law, the Department of Home Affairs is authorized to issue special permits on foreign employment for certain companies which require critical skills that might not be easy to come by among locals.It would therefore be highly unusual for the vast majority of a local companys workforce to be made up of foreign nationals, especially since delivery drivers do not require a rare skillset.TopAuto reached out to Shoprite, Pingo, and RTT to allow for comment on Checkers Sixty60 employment policies, but none of the stakeholders responded by the time of publication.Goolam also claimed that a high number of Sixty60 foreign nationals were in the country illegally, which is not an accusation without precedent.In May 2023, the Department of Labour apprehended eight illegal foreigners working for the delivery app at a store in the Western Cape, as reported by News24.Unqualified driversAn issue related to the alleged high number of foreigners on Sixty60 is that many drivers may not actually be qualified to operate on South African roads.According to Hein Jonker, the founder of the Motorcycle Safety Institute of South Africa, many of these riders may be using a licence that does not guarantee they know how to use a motorcycle.In other parts of Africa, a driverlicence for a car will cover all classes of vehicles below it, including a scooter or motorbike.This means that individuals with a car licence may not have passed a motorcycle exam or received any relevant training, but are still technically allowed to drive one.They come to this country with a licence that includes a motorcycle licence, and off they go, said Jonker.