Applications
General catering information
Meal plans
Applicants offered a place in a catering residence must indicate when returning their letter of acceptance (reply form) what their chosen meal plan is for the year.
Applicants can choose between four meal plans:
- Plan 1 - breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Plan 2 - lunch and dinner
- Plan 3 - breakfast and dinner
- Plan 4 - breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday to Friday only
Where an applicant fails to choose, the maximum of 21 meals per week (plan 1) will default and be charged.
The meal plan selected may not be changed during the semester but changes are possible in May for the second semester. Students are not permitted to heat, prepare food or cook in their rooms.
The meal plans are differentiated by coloured meal tickets which are issued to students on signing in to their specific residence. For ease of identification students are asked to provide a passport-size photograph, which is attached to the meal ticket.
UCT currently operates a self-service system for everything except cooked meals and the various cold options on offer.
Students are able to help themselves to a variety of cereals at breakfast time, bread, butter, condiments, milk, tea and coffee. There is a variety of salads at lunch time, soup and gravy as well as bread.
At lunch and dinner there are always two meat options and a vegetarian one, as well as a variety of cold plate options (such as cheese or meat). Breakfast options include yoghurt and fruit juice as choices, with two hot options.
Given that UCT is in a mass catering system, it cannot cater for special religious or dietary/medical requirements. It is recommended that students with these special needs apply for accommodation in the self-catering residences.
For those students who are not able to make it back to residence for lunch, there is a meal voucher system in place. A meal voucher can be taken instead of lunch and spent at the vendors that operate on the upper, medical and middle campuses. A lunch pack can also be arranged instead of taking a meal voucher.
Meal times
Meal times on weekdays during term time:
Breakfast: 07h00 to 08h30
Lunch: 12h00 to 14h00
Dinner: 17h30 to 20h00
Breakfast times over the weekend are from 08h00 to 09h30, and during study week from 07h00 to 09h00, should the students opt for this.
Students are required to leave the dining hall fifteen minutes after service times end to facilitate cleaning and setting up the dining hall for the next meal. The catering service is currently outsourced to Fedics - Food Services.
Due to the fact that the catering system is a manual one and it is recognised that students miss some meals, an 8% discount has been factored into catering fees upfront, hence students only pay 92% of the cost of catering in any given year. Refunds are therefore not given, as the 8% translates to approximately 64 meals a year.
Other information
Comments, complaints, suggestions and any catering-related matters are dealt with on a monthly basis through each Food Committee.
An elected food representative who is a House Committee member represents students on the committee. The UCT catering manager chairs the meeting, which is also attended by the Fedics - Food Services project manager and the catering manager of the specific kitchen.
Minutes of these meetings are sent to the director of Student Housing and the respective wardens of the residence concerned.
Students can use the comments book as the channel to voice their concerns or compliments daily. Items identified are taken seriously and form part of the management of the contractor.