🛴 The Stellenbosch scooter saga just took another turn

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The battle over Stellenbosch's electric scooters isn't over yet.

In the latest twist, South Africa's Department of Transport has backed Stellenbosch Municipality's position, agreeing that under the current legal framework, shared e-scooters are not permitted to operate on public roads and sidewalks. The decision strengthens the municipality's case as it continues its legal dispute with GoNow, the company behind the town's popular scooter-sharing service.

For many students and residents, the scooters have become part of daily life, offering a quick way to get between campus, town and home. But the municipality maintains that public safety must come first, pointing to injuries and the fact that national legislation has simply not kept pace with new forms of transport.

The bigger issue may be less about scooters and more about how quickly laws can adapt to innovation. Technology often moves faster than legislation, leaving municipalities to make difficult decisions without clear rules to follow.

For now, the future of GoNow in Stellenbosch remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: this debate is far from over.

Summer laundry is easy.

You hang it up, make a coffee, and by the time you've remembered where you left your sunglasses, everything is dry.

Winter, however, is an entirely different sport.

Yesterday's washing becomes today's washing. Today's washing becomes tomorrow's washing. At some point you can no longer remember whether those jeans are clean, dirty or simply trapped in a state of permanent dampness.

Every spare chair in the house suddenly becomes a drying rack.

The dining room looks like a Cape Union Mart exploded.

Towels somehow become wetter after you've used them.

You start moving clothes around the house like they're patients in intensive care.

"This room gets a bit more sun."

"No, move it closer to the fireplace."

"Maybe the guest bedroom has better airflow."

Then comes the daily inspection.

You pick up a T-shirt.

Hold it up.

Give it the squeeze test.

Followed by the universal winter ritual... the sniff test.

"Hmm... I think it's dry?"

"No... that's definitely still damp."

The real winners are the people lucky enough to have a tumble dryer. They walk around acting like they've solved one of humanity's greatest engineering challenges.

The rest of us are just praying for one sunny afternoon before we run out of underwear.

A Stellenbosch University alumnus is proving that world-class opportunities can start right here in the Winelands.

Reshard Kolabhai, who began his journey at Stellenbosch University on a recruitment bursary, is now a doctoral candidate at the prestigious Yale Law School in the United States. His path wasn't a straight line. He initially enrolled to study music before realising his passion lay in law, eventually earning both an LLB and an LLM at Stellenbosch.

After graduating during the Covid-19 pandemic, Reshard spent time supporting social movements before lecturing in Constitutional and Human Rights Law. He later applied to several top American universities and was accepted by Yale, becoming the first LLM student from Africa in more than a decade to be admitted to the university's doctoral law programme.

Reflecting on his time in Stellenbosch, Reshard says the university taught him the value of rigorous thinking and of learning alongside people with different backgrounds and perspectives. His advice to current students is simple: keep learning, step outside your comfort zone, ask difficult questions and, above all, be kind.

Life is never going to become permanently calm.

There will always be deadlines, bills to pay, children needing your attention, businesses with problems to solve, relationships to work on, bad news, good news, unexpected setbacks and moments of incredible joy. That's simply what being alive looks like.

The goal isn't to build a life with no storms.

The goal is to build a mind that doesn't become a storm every time life does.

Peace isn't found when everything around you is perfect. It's found when you stop expecting perfection and learn to meet each day with patience, perspective and gratitude.

The world will always be noisy.

But your mind doesn't have to be.

Protect your peace. It's one of the few things in life that nobody else can give you, and nobody else can take away unless you let them.

🌤️ Monday | 15°C / 4°C
A beautiful reward after Sunday's washout. Expect plenty of sunshine, crisp winter air and a very cold start to the day. Perfect weather for a morning coffee in the sun... just don't forget a jacket.

☀️ Tuesday | 16°C / 7°C
Another lovely winter's day with sunshine and a few clouds. Chilly first thing, but comfortable by lunchtime. Probably one of those days where everyone suddenly remembers why they love winter in Stellenbosch.

⛅ Wednesday | 16°C / 8°C
A mix of sun and cloud with cool winter temperatures continuing. Another pleasant day before the next weather system begins edging closer later in the week.

🥶 Winter Verdict:
After Sunday's cold, wet and miserable weather, Stellenbosch gets a welcome three-day break. Expect frosty mornings, sunny afternoons and ideal weather for getting outside while it lasts. The umbrellas can take a short holiday... for now.

As always, thanks for reading. If you spot something in town worth knowing, reply and tell us. Half the best Stellenbosch stories begin that way.

See you around town,
Stellenbosch Brief

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