Questions and answers:

The right to parking has never formed part of service conditions for staff and the amendment/adjustment can therefore not be regarded as a one-sided amendment of the service conditions. Since 2010 the new system, which offers various options, was communicated to and consulted with staff and students. If none of these is suitable to staff, alternative parking arrangements can be made within the context of the greater town. (External legal opinion)

This applies only in the case of free parking since the tax value will then be zero. However, since according to SU policy parking will not be free, it will indeed be taxable. (External legal opinion)

Should your department pay on your behalf while it is SU policy that employees themselves must pay, it will constitute a taxable fringe benefit in terms of paragraph 2(h) of Schedule 7 of the Act. In terms of this provision "taxable fringe benefit shall be deemed to be granted by an employer to his employee ... where the employer has released the employee from an obligation to pay any amount owing by the employee to the employer ...". The value of the fringe benefit will be the value of the original “debt” paid on behalf of the employee or which the employee no longer has to pay. (External legal opinion)

An after-tax deduction is the correct way of dealing with this, as is the case with any other payment that the employee is responsible for and which is administered by the payroll, e.g. insurance, etc. According to section 23(m) of the Act, parking is not an allowable deduction for tax purposes for employees. To structure it as a pre-tax deduction, holds a tax risk for SU and therefore this process can not be followed. (External legal opinion)

The employee is not refused access to his/her place of work (office) but given the option of utilising the SU’s parking in terms of the new rules put in place after relevant consultation and communication with the staff and students since 2010, or to make alternative parking arrangements. It can thus not be interpreted as “exclusion”. (External legal opinion)

The parking management system offers the consumer a range of options. In the case of reserved parking one parking bay is indeed allocated per specific person. However, in the case of non-reserved parking more persons are awarded parking in a specific parking area than the number of parking bays available. Various costs are linked to the different options, because of the fact that the relation of user to parking bay increases as the costs decreases.
The contract with the consumer regarding the parking system is set out in the application form and the terms and conditions, as provided on the webpage. This states clearly that:

• The US provides a right to access a specific parking area and that the access is provided to more users than the number of available parking bays due to the reasonable expectation that everyone who has access to the parking area will not be requiring access at the same time. This is clearly stated as a feature of the service that is paid for.
• The number of users who have access to a specific parking area is not determined randomly, but with due consideration for the unique nature of each environment.
• Having been granted access to a parking area, parking is utilised on a first come, first served principle. This is also made clear in the terms and conditions.
  The SU does not undertake to provide a parking bay at all times in exchange for payment, but provides access to a specific type of parking. Since there is indeed a restriction on the number of users who are granted access to the specific type of access, the SU has “a reasonable basis to assert an intention to supply those goods or provide those services” (Section 47[2][a]).

The SU will also not be supplying “services that are materially different from … the services in respect of which the payment or consideration was accepted.” The user gets exactly what has been undertaken in the agreement.

In addition to this, the provision of an option in terms of which a parking bay is not guaranteed, does not constitute a contravention in terms of Section 47(3), since the SU has not given an undertaking or accepted a booking for the provision of material or services at a specific date or at a specific time. The nature of the service provided by the SU is in this case not the same as that prohibited in terms of Section 47. (External legal opinion)

All staff and students who have successfully applied to have their vehicles registered for parking on University grounds, will be paying the amount applicable to the type of parking allocated to them.

No.

No. Only those who have registered their vehicles successfully will be paying. Parking fees must be paid into the parking charge fund.

None.

The money paid into the Parking Charge Fund is used for the maintenance and management of parking.

Tarriffs are calculated in accordance with the type of parking allocated, as well as the number of parking discs applied for (and awarded).

The SU’s fees are considerably lower than that of other institutions. In 2016 the cheapest municipal parking amounted to R5 820 per annum. At the University of Cape Town in 2016 it was on average R960 per annum for the cheaper alternative and R1 524 per annum for the more expensive option.

Only reserved parking is guaranteed. Non-reserved parking at buildings works according to a first come, first served principle. The number of additional vehicles which will be admitted to these parking areas will, however, be limited in future (compared to the situation before 2013). This number will be determined in cooperation with the various environments, with due consideration to the nature of each environment. Provision is thus made for the movement of vehicles at each building for the optimal utilisation of parking.

No, only parking on University grounds must be paid for. However, should a private student who lives near campus, wish to drive to campus and park on University grounds, Coetzenburg included, he/she will have to register his/her car and pay the relevant parking charge.

Costs will be revised on a year-to-year basis, as is the case with all SU tariffs.

All staff, including members of management, and students who register their vehicles for parking on University grounds will be paying fees in accordancce with the type of parking allocated to them. Members of management must therefore also apply for parking.

No, everybody will be exercising his or her option within the available options, with the associated cost implications.

Staff and students will be parking in the same parking area on the periphery. However, the existing parking area assigned for staff as well as parking at residences will be retained as is.

Only one-third of the SU’s students live in residences. The rest have to travel from the broader Stellenbosch or from outside town to attend classes. Since public transport is insufficient, this leaves them no other alternative but to use private transport. The Mobility Plan, however, is aimed at facilitating processes to make more options than merely private transport available to all students.

Should the current model be continued with, more than 7 000 new parking bays will be required to provide a parking bay for everyone. Stricter policing will therefore not solve the problem. There is not only a shortage in parking for students but also for staff. However, stricter policing is indeed necessary to maintain better discipline and improve the safety of pedestrians.

Yes, but for now the provision of sufficient parking bays remains priority. At a later stage microchips for instance can be used to open booms automatically for authorised persons.

No, the SU is responsible for enforcing traffic measures on its own grounds. However, pavements and streets crossing the campus are municipal property, for which the Traffic Services are responsible. Given the integration of the town and campus, cooperation between the SU and local Traffic Services is of course of cardinal importance.

If you want to park on university grounds, you need to register your vehicle. In the meantime use municipal parking areas. It is envisaged that university parking areas will be established, which will operate on a pay and park principle (like parking at shopping centres). As soon as this becomes available, you will be able to park there for the specific day and only pay for that day.

See the webpage for the options available to members of a lift club. We are still exploring ways in which to create more benefits for lift club members

Most parking areas on central campus will most probably be behind booms eventually in order to manage access. A cost model in terms of which users only pay for the time they are parked will be cost effective for staff / students who seldomly use their own vehicles, or who only need to be on campus for short periods of time. But it will be too expensive for staff working long hours. Different parking options are therefore available to address the different requirements.

The intention is not that all staff and students should park in the general parking area eg. at Coetzenburg or Silvertrees. That is why a range of integrated transport options are made available to provide users with more choices than private transport only.

Sports events are primarily held after hours or during weekends, when commuters have already left. When specific events do overlap, arrangements will be made to deal with them.

With the upgrading of the SU’s part of Suidwal Street (at the single bridge) provision was made for a second bridge, in consultation with the Municipality. The river and bridge are however municipal land and the Municipality has so far been unable to secure funds for the construction of a second bridge. We will be monitoring the situation in the meantime until a second bridge can be constructed, and make the necessary traffic arrangements.

Parking garages are indeed part of the long-term planning for parking. It is, however, a very expensive option and funding for this must first be secured.

If any applications are received from new or existing staff after the first allocations were made in February (for implementation in March), the capacity of the parking area concerned will be assessed to determine whether it can handle additional vehicles. A restriction has, however, been placed on the number of reserved parking bays per area, as well as the percentage of additional vehicles that are permitted access to the non-reserved parking bays. Those restrictions cannot simply be changed in the course of the year since it will have an impact on all the other staff who have access to that area. Staff who have already been granted access cannot simply be requested to move to an alternative parking area since the agreement has been concluded for the duration of a year. However, an environment is free to consult with its own staff, and then subsequently request that the percentage of access to non-reserved parking be changed

Residences will still be involved in the allocation of parking bays.

There will be assigned areas for the residence students – areas not currently used by PSO students.

Although this areas is not at the residences themselves, it offers a more regulated environment than municipal kerbs. It is enclosed, access control applies and a security guard is on duty. However, hostel students need to register for this service in order to participate and for the shuttle to be operationalised for this route. See website.

They can have a look at the shuttle bus schedule and use the last bus of the day to fetch their cars in the general parking area.

The model tries to make provision for the securing of parking areas as far as possible by providing fencing, security cameras and security staff. Unfortunately the SU cannot guarantee the safety of cars or pay repair costs, just as is the case with other parking areas on central campus.

The safety of its staff and students are very important to the SU. A great effort is therefore being made to improve the safety by among others the application of technology and the introduction of officers allocated to campus security. However, this still does not mean that the SU can guarantee the safety of its staff and students at each and every moment and at each and every location.

See the webpage for information on the proposed routes.

This is the model proposed – however, the pick-up points will be determined in consultation with users to be as convenient as possible within statutory provisions.

Preliminary routes have been identified, but routes may be adjusted according to needs and within the service’s cost budget. As soon as these have been finalised, the information will be made available.

Yes, Stellenbosch station has been included in most of the planned shuttle routes on the Stellenbosch campus.

The University is currently busy with negotiations for the roll-out of a pilot project for the assessment of certain routes. This is an attempt by the University to prove the sustainability of such a service and to promote the expansion of public transport. SU wants to facilitate the process rather than becoming a transport operator itself. 

Yes. See the webpage for the campus shuttle and evening shuttle service schedule and routes. The intention is that the other shuttles (public transport) will operate according to a fixed schedule right from the start.  This schedule will be compiled in consultation with users

The evening shuttle service starts at 18:00. If you feel uneasy about your safety, contact SU Campus Security to accompany you to your car. However, it is important to consider the bus schedule and plan accordingly.

The campus shuttle is available until 17:30. The evening shuttle service starts at 18:00. Please visit the web page for the campus shuttle service for the latest information.

SU Management made funds available for financing a major portion of the campus shuttle service. Other financing model are continually investigated.

Cost will be calculated per route and per frequency of usage.

The buses between central campus and the general parking area will run all day. Therefore if you have decided to park in the general parking area or if general parking has been allocated to you, you will be able to use the buses to get back to your vehicle.

Yes, the parking area is available 24/7.  During the day you can use the campus shuttle service to reach your vehicle, and in the evening the night shuttle service (at a cost). You will, however, be able to fetch your car once the booms to the parking area have been opened (after 16:30) and then park your car in front of your building.

Some of the buses currently in operation have been equipped especially for wheelchair users, and are available upon request at this stage. Should it be necessary, more of these buses can be made available.

No.

Handbrakes

The bicycles have a basket.

Yes.

You are not compelled to wear one in terms of legislation. However, it is strongly advised. Helmets are not provided.

Each bicycle frame has a series number, which will be linked to your SU number so that we will know whose specific bicycle it is. On the front and back mudguards there is also a unique number which will enable you to identify your bicycle quickly.

Yes.

Refer to webpage for costs.

No, payment must be made in cash at the cashier at Administration Building A or via and EFT (electronic funds transfer).

The bicycle will be taken to a bicycle shop for checking. They will then indicate if any damages are due to ordinary wear and tear or if there are specific repairs that have to be made. You will not be paying for ordinary wear and tear, only for specific repairs.

Yes, the transaction can be arranged via an interdepartmental requisition.

Full information is available on the webpage.

No, but you will forfeit the refundable deposit.

No. You are only renting the bicycle. It therefore remains SU property and if it is not returned, you expose yourself to a charge of theft.

Repairs, such as the replacement of tubes and larger repairs, will be for the user's own account. Contact any of the providers on the list.

Yes, the SU will provide each cyclist with a short guide on general maintenance. The guide can also be downloaded.

There are various bicycle sheds on campus. You will gain access with your student or staff card. The safety mechanisms are not a guarantee that the bicycle will not be stolen, but will however make it far more difficult.

Register your bicycle at the Campus Security. Registration is free of charge.

The information entered on the system will enable the SU and police to identify the owner of a bicycle, which is key information in the case of an accident or theft.

Yes, should the need justify it and existing bicycle sheds are well-utilised, additional sheds will indeed be erected.

Yes, the guidelines will be handed to you together with the contract. It will also be available on the web in electronic format.

Strict traffic calming is planned, including among others strict enforcement of a low speed limit, speed bumps, elevated pedestrian and bicycle crossings and traffic services personnel. These measures will make it safer to move around by bicycle. However, cyclists are still subject to the relevant traffic rules.