The biggest carrier of road passengers in the Cape Metropole, Golden Arrow Bus Service (GABS), has once again been given the nod by its passengers.

This came to light when the GABS recently handed over a survey conducted by the CPUT’s Mathematics and Physics Department to Donald Grant, Western Cape Provincial Minister of Transport.

When asked about their overall level of satisfaction, 75% of customers indicated that they were either ‘Somewhat satisfied’ or ‘Very satisfied’ with the service. Furthermore, 93% of customers indicated that they would be willing to recommend the service to others.

Lecturer Thomas Farrar said: “This indicates that GABS is serving its customers well across all indicators of service quality. There are, however, areas where improvements can be made”.

The response times when complaints are made, safety from crime at bus stops and termini, affordability of fares, availability of buses when needed and time spent waiting for a bus were identified as the highest priority areas for improvement.

Respondents for the survey were randomly selected by a team of 43 CPUT enumerators in Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Cape Town (Golden Acre), Bellville and Mowbray.

Dr Prins Nevhutalu, CPUT Vice-Chancellor, commended the CPUT team that worked on the project, emphasizing that quality service is a challenge to us as a country. He said the survey results will go a long way in improving the service rendered by GABS.

Grant said one thing that he learnt while he was Minister of Education in the Western Cape was that good surveys are important. He said his ministry will go on to work with partners in improving the service levels of citizens.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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The Department of Mathematics and Physics recently held its Mathematical Sciences Assembly with the aim of creating a stronger sense of identity among students and staff of the Mathematical Sciences programmes at Bellville campus.

Thomas Farrar, Acting Head, Department of Mathematics and Physics said the department previously held student assemblies many years ago, but it had not been held since 2015. Farrar said they wanted to resurrect and expand this tradition “to inspire students to excel, and to give students a glimpse of the ‘bigger picture’ in terms of career opportunities, planned postgraduate offerings, etc”.

Pepkor, which was represented by Simone Felix, and Shoprite represented by Chris Steyn, are two of the industry partners of the department who host final-year students for their Work Integrated Learning. “Their sponsorship of and attendance at our assembly shows the value that they see in our programme and the potential that they see in our students,” enthused Farrar.

The event was a great success, “thanks to the generous support of our partners and the enthusiastic spirit shown by our students and staff”. The programme included speeches from alumni and industry partners and the presentation of academic achievement awards. The top three achievers at each year level received an official CPUT testimonial certificate and a retail voucher.

Farrar said in the past they had seen some Mathematical Sciences students leaving the department’s programme after first-year and switching to other courses like Engineering. “Our research has shown that some of these students leave because they are unaware of what career opportunities await a Mathematical Sciences graduate. By handing out academic achievement awards, we are signalling to our top achieving students that our department and its industry partners value excellence and that their talents are not wasted on our programme.”

By inviting industry guest speakers including CPUT alumni, the department is inspiring students with confidence that a Mathematical Sciences qualification from CPUT has currency in the labour economy and can launch them toward their career goals.

The department intends to make the Mathematical Sciences Assembly an annual tradition. Farrar believes that word will spread among students that this is an event not to be missed, resulting in higher attendance next year. “We are also hopeful that the prestige of the academic achievement awards will increase friendly competition among our students and result in more students achieving distinctions. Recognising student excellence also motivates lecturers to do their best.”

Written by Aphiwe Boyce
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