Varieties of Solidarity and Worker Organisation in South Africa’s Gig Economy

The rise in digital platforms represents a new form of infrastructure which is shaping working people’s realities and everyday social life. This has effect on how workers organise and experience solidarity. Solidarity and workers organisation is shaped by various factors including local norms and values and how the labour process is organised. Drawing from a qualitative research design, this paper explores how the digital economy in South Africa is shaping workers organisation and how they articulate solidarity. There are varieties of such solidarities and workers in the gig economy articulate and value it beyond the work space into the realm of social reproduction. Worker solidarity in the gig economy is divided and undermined by power disparities and pre-existing inequalities.