By Amber Steyn and Julian Rael Gordon
Commuter students and students staying in non-university accommodation make up approximately 75% of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) total students and are allocated to Commuter Student Communities (CSCs). The concept, founded in 1973, has grown to provide physical spaces and belonging for these students. Die Matie spoke to current CSC managers, Prims and a cluster co-ordinator to understand the history and what benefits CSCs offer to their members.
Where it all began
The first Private Student Organisations (PSOs), now known as CSCs, were created in 1973, said Jethro Georgiades, Manager of the Unit for Commuter Student Communities (UCSC), to Die Matie. SU primarily housed students in residences near and on campus, and student life was therefore largely built around the “residential model”. This model entailed values including social integration and peer-to-peer mentoring, and has since provided developments for commuter students too.
“As the university grew, the number of students exceeded the number of places in residences” and in 1972 “the number of commuter students exceeded the number of residential students,” Georgiades said. SU’s solution to this issue was creating PSOs to allow all students to experience “community life” still built on the residential model values.
The first four PSOs were created in 1973. They were Oude Molen, Libertas, Pieke and Aristea. Oude Molen, Pieke and Libertas were male PSOs. The first of which is still a male PSO. Aristea was the first and only female PSO at the time. In 1981, Aurora formed. Libertas later became Capri (co-ed) in 2018 and Pieke became co-ed in 2025. “The university now offers more co-ed spaces and co-ed communities” as well as “more single-sex female and co-ed communities than single-sex male communities,” said Georgiades.
University clusters were created in 2008 to group the various PSOs and residences around a common geographical area. In each cluster, there is a mix of PSOs and residential communities.
PSOs became known as CSCs at the end of 2022, said Benita van Zyl, Manager for Residence Student Communities, Cluster Co-ordinator for amaMaties and Residential Head for Serruria Residence. “Internationally, student communities talk about commuter students and not about Private Student Organisations, like we did. A decision was made to internationalise the term to commuter students to also bring a better understanding to all our student communities,” she said.
Growth and development
In 2009, a SU institutional task team investigated the needs of commuter students and formed the first hub – the amaMaties Hub on 14 May 2012. “This was a space built for commuter students to eat, study, book meals and to be between classes,” said Georgiades.
Van Zyl said to Die Matie that the amaMaties Hub provides “a visible home for commuter students on campus” and “a sense of belonging”. For clusters and CSCs, “programming has expanded” since the hub’s opening and also provides a space to “work on group projects” and “interact with student leaders”. Whilst it is a multipurpose space, “the aim is not to replicate residence life exactly”, said Van Zyl. “The Hub therefore complements rather than copies the residence experience by providing opportunities for connection, support and engagement.”
CSC students also have access to open dining halls in residences that are in their cluster.
Georgiades said that as “CSCs comprise approximately 75% of students at SU”, an understanding of their contextual needs was investigated in 2009. It required a lot of “time and understanding to help us find ways to prioritise the needs of commuter students aligned with the strategic core themes of SU Vision 2040” while considering those “contextual needs”, said Georgiades.
As seen in its Vision 2040 and Strategic Framework, SU aims to be the continent’s leading research-intensive university and recognised worldwide as “excellent, inclusive and innovative”. A key strategic theme is to focus on the transformative student experience through opportunities for engagement.
“To bring SU students, both commuter and residential, together, students need to engage and make use of opportunities provided to them in order to thrive,” Georgiades added. He said that their main goal “is to ensure every student is welcomed, connected and integrated into the campus life ecosystem through the student community”.
The UCSC’s mission is built on the vision of the Centre for Student Life and Learning (CSLL): “For every student and leader, regardless of diverse backgrounds, communities or impactful contributions, to belong and the university to be a better South Africa,” said Georgiades.
Erin Ring, the 2025/2026 Prim of Aristea, said, “The role as a CSC is not to ask people to fit neatly into one mould, but it is rather to create a space where those differences are genuinely valued.”
The future aim is to meet commuter students where they are. Georgiades said that this will be done through “hybrid programming”, so students can engage with each other and their community online whenever they want to. “We are busy with an exercise now to map out where commuter students live while studying at SU, and then create something that we call a CSC region,” Georgiades said. The CSC region will allow commuter students to connect digitally, and, for example, find lift clubs, study groups and socialise.
Integration and involvement
Georgiades added that CSCs are not limited to students actively participating in these communities, but that “they have a profound impact on the ecosystem” of SU students. Thus, students within these communities advocate for and represent the needs of commuter students.
“Some students engage through leadership, others through volunteering, academic support, sport, societies or occasional participation when their schedules allow,” said Van Zyl.
CSC Prims are also part of larger university leadership structures.
“11 of the 42 prims on the Prim Committee are from CSCs,” said Jacques Souchon, the 2025/2026 Prim of Vesta. He added that the 2025/2026 Vice-Chairperson of the Prim Committee was the Prim of the Olympus CSC.
CSCs are represented on the SRC too. “Both the Prim Committee Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson sit on the SRC as ex officio members, and hence, in this case, the Vice-Chairperson represents CSCs on the SRC from the perspective of a former CSC Prim,” said Souchon.
However, not all SU commuter students who are allocated to CSCs remain engaged in them. “Commuter students often balance far more than their academic studies,” Van Zyl said. As “many commute long distances, rely on public transport, work part-time, support family responsibilities or have financial pressures”, it then limits “the time they can spend on campus outside of lectures”.
“Commuter students often balance far more than their academic studies,” Van Zyl said. As “many commute long distances, rely on public transport, work part-time, support family responsibilities or have financial pressures”, it then limits “the time they can spend on campus outside of lectures”.
Van Zyl said commuter and residence students have different needs. “Having worked closely with both residence and commuter students, I have seen that neither experience is inherently better – they are simply different,” she said. The difference lies in tangible and intangible spheres where “residence students benefit from living within a ready-made community”. This contrasts to commuter students who “navigate between their home environment and university” and may miss “informal interactions that help build community” when leaving campus at the end of a day.
Community and belonging
Georgiades said that the Welcoming period is regarded as one of the biggest successes for CSCs. Firstly, commuter students are allocated to their community by SU at the start of the year according to the placement policy for student communities
Souchon said belonging, for any Vestonian, depends on how they were integrated into the community, where “most [newcomers] are introduced during the Welcoming period” and are able to explore their diverse backgrounds. Vestonians have a lunch hour get-together every Friday on the Rooiplein. He added, “Most importantly, we all sing the same songs, sign the same book and share the same space in Vesta.”
Souchon highlighted a common tradition that he believes has an impact on Vestonians throughout the years: their songs. “Vesta goes sometimes dangerously overboard with our songs and cheer, particularly [the song titled] ‘French Bread’ which ends with our 100-cohort jumping around in a chaotic circle.” He added that this was the reason he lost his house keys during the Dreamwalk in his first year and that nothing shows the world their camaraderie, spirit, and love for Vesta more than when they sing their songs together.
Welcoming is important in Aristea too. Ring explained the CSC’s “Purple Splash” tradition during its Welcoming program.
“Our House Committee, Mentors and Seniors Committee form a tunnel that the newcomers run through as they are covered in Aristea’s signature purple powdered paint,” she said.
“Our newcomers then have the opportunity to splash the House Committee in return, reminding us that community is never one-sided.” Ring added it represents newcomers becoming “part of a community that will embrace, support, encourage, and walk alongside them”.
After Welcoming, Ring said, a sense of community in Aristea is “built through the real, everyday moments”. She said, “It is the one-on-one conversations over coffee; finding the friend you have been searching for years for on the fourth day of Welcoming.”
