At least three establishments have gone cashless in the past month, joining many other businesses that no longer accept cash in Stellenbosch Central. While cashless systems are convenient, concerns about taxi-fare cash payments and parking marshal’s tips were raised.

Meraki has left coins and notes in the past, shifting to an electronic-only system as of 1 April. “Firstly, it’s out of a safety point of view,” said Libby Adams, the restaurant’s manager. “No one has to drive to the bank with big amounts of cash anymore.” 

She said that the staff’s tips are now paid into their bank accounts on a weekly basis, which also reduced their risk of becoming targets of theft. There had only been one incident where a customer was unable to make a cashless payment, she said.

This payment inconvenience has shifted from restaurant to its staff. “I do take a taxi and sometimes I don’t have cash. Then, I have to go to Checkers to withdraw money for my taxi to go home,” said Anthea du Plessis, a waitress at The Wine Glass. 

The Wine Glass in Ryneveld Street went cashless in March, and said that most of their customers were already using electronic payments. “Cash for the business on site was a liability with crime,” said Sam Bird, the restaurant’s manager. “It’s less stressful and more secure to have only electronic payments.”

Taste also operates as a cashless establishment. “It costs a lot of money to deposit cash at the banks and no one really has cash anymore,” said Niel Lambrechts, the owner of the restaurant. “Everyone is conveniently set up to pay with either card or cellphone, so it’s just better.”

A municipal parking marshal, who asked to remain anonymous out of concern for her job, expressed her frustrations regarding this system. “A lot of people have challenging living situations, and I am one of them,” she said. “If someone wants to tip me in cash on top of the cashless payment, I don’t understand why I am not allowed to accept it.”

Stellenbosch Municipality’s official parking marshals operate on a strictly cashless system. According to Stuart Grobbelaar, communications manager at the municipality, this enhances safety for both motorists and staff, ensuring that parking revenue is properly directed toward municipal services. He added that the parking staff is not permitted to accept cash under any circumstances. 

Some restaurants, such as Schoon and Rome in a Bite, continue to accept cash payments. “Maybe you don’t have a card, and you just have cash, we try to suit everyone,” said Clive Lance, a waiter at Rome in a Bite.

SMF News contacted the Bureau for Economic Research (BER) for official insight and statistics on Stellenbosch payment data, but they were unable to provide assistance due to limited research on the subject.