Emily O’Ryan
The university’s night shuttle service will remain free until further notice. Its route will include Botmashoogte Residence (Idas Valley), following increasing concerns around student safety.
In a media statement in March 2018, the SRC announced that the proposed R9 fee per trip for the night shuttle will not be implemented by the University, as the SRC had “taken a stance against the implementation of the […] payment system for shuttles”.
Furthermore, students living in the Botmashoogte Residence will be provided with a night shuttle with proposed collection times of 19h30, 20:30, and 21:30. At the time of publication, these times were yet to be confirmed by representatives from Botmashoogte and the Transport Department.
Following increased incidents of muggings in the area, the provision of a night shuttle for students at Botmashoogte became a priority for the SRC. Botmashoogte is situated 2.1 km outside of Stellenbosch. The night shuttle system, which currently runs from 18:00 to 02:00 from the Neelsie, was introduced Brandon Como, SRC member in 2007, to assist with the alleviation of transport issues.
According to Axolile Qina. SRC chair of 2015, this was particularly for students living further away from campus. At the beginning of 2018, a R9 fee was proposed as payment for the night-time shuttles, which has added pressure to negotiations about a shuttle service.
However, the SRC took a stance against this proposal.
“Often, those using the shuttles are those who do not have the means to stay in central Stellenbosch, or did not get placement in a residence closer to campus. This means that a fee would only indebt the very students it set out to assist,” said Lwando Nkamisa, SRC chair.
The implementation of this proposal has been postponed until term 2, while negotiations continue between Pieter Weaver, Nkamisa and Prof. Stan du Plessis, Chief Operating Officer of SU’s Department of Economics.
