Welgevonden Estate: Estate Manager’s newsletter: February 2026

Dear Welgevonden Estate Homeowners and Residents

Welgevonden Park

As part of the Welgevonden Park project, a short link road will be constructed from Welgevonden Boulevard to the parking area within the park. This will include the construction of a traffic circle on Welgevonden Boulevard, inside the gate area.

As an early notification to residents, please note that the R304 gate will be closed for all vehicles during the road construction period. Residents, visitors and contractors will be required to use the R44 gate during that time. However, pedestrian access at the R304 gate will not be affected and will continue as normal. Further details regarding roadworks and gate closures will be communicated shortly.

The civil contractor, Lanser Civils, is currently on site and anticipates that the road infrastructure and civil works should be completed by mid-April 2026. Therefore, we foresee the opening of Welgevonden Park to be finalised at that time this year. We will keep all residents informed.

Aerial view of the Welgevonden Park development: 15 February 2026  

Upcoming survey: Welgevonden Park development

With the Welgevonden Park project progressing well, we have reached the stage where we would like to ask residents their opinion and preferences regarding food, drink and other refreshment offerings they would like to have available at the park.

An opinion survey will shortly be published on the GLOCMS community app. We encourage all residents to participate. Your input is valued and appreciated.

WHOA Control Measures to Regulate the Performance of Services and Building Work

Homeowners and residents are reminded of the guidelines contained in the above document, available on the Documents page of the Welgevonden Estate website.

The purpose of these control measures is to ensure that the quality of life within the Estate is not unduly compromised or inconvenienced by work being carried out, and that the environmental impact of such work is minimised. At the same time, the measures recognise that service providers and building contractors must be able to perform their work efficiently and effectively.

If you are planning any construction or building-related work on your property – generally involving bricks, cement, sand or other building materials – please study the document carefully. Requirements include, among others, submitting a formal application at the estate office, payment of a building deposit, fencing off the building site, keeping the site neat and tidy, and providing a mobile toilet for building staff.

Routine property maintenance and minor improvements are not regulated by these control measures and may be undertaken without formal application. This includes the painting of a house and the replacement of existing paving.

Note: When painting, please ensure that only the latest approved exterior colour palette, as adopted at the 2025 WHOA AGM, is used. While the overall colour palette remains largely unchanged, the darker colour categories have been removed. Details are available in the Welgevonden Estate Architectural Directives and Design Guidelines (click here) or from the estate office.

If you are unsure whether your planned work falls within the scope of the control measures, please contact the estate office at admin@welgevonden.co.za for guidance and clarification.

Minors harassing birdlife at the Welgevonden dam

We continue to receive reports of children harassing birdlife at the Welgevonden dam, despite previous requests to parents to ensure appropriate behaviour on common property.

Reports include stones being thrown at birds on or near the water, and birds being chased with sticks. Of concern is that, in some instances, supervising adults, including au pairs/child carers, either appear ignorant of the behaviour, or do not intervene.

We ask parents to please take responsibility. Teach children to respect the wildlife on the estate and ensure that they comply with the Estate Rules. Where child carers are involved, please ensure they are clearly informed of these expectations and actively supervise accordingly.

Wildlife forms an important part of Welgevonden Estate’s character and environment. Estate management cannot uphold these standards without the support and example of parents and caregivers.

An appeal to pet owners

There are many pet owners on Welgevonden Estate who lovingly take care of their animals, specially making sure they do not become a nuisance for others. Regrettably, there is a minority of residents who are giving ownership of a pet a bad name by not taking fellow residents into consideration as far as their dogs and/or cats, and their behaviour go.

Rather than repeating the rules that govern, particularly, the keeping of dogs and cats, we appeal to all dog owners to consistently consider fellow residents in how their dogs are managed. The same principle applies to cats. While cats are admittedly more difficult to control, the responsibility remains with their owners to ensure they do not become a nuisance to neighbours or other residents.

As a rule, all pets must wear collars fitted with tags indicating the contact details of their owners, and dogs must be on leash when walking them, irrespective if they are trained or not. This is to prevent dog fights, or residents being attacked.

Please report the presence and location of stray cats to Estate Security (Tel: 021 889 5209) as these cats have become a nuisance in certain areas.

Responsible use of water

Although there are currently no water restrictions in place in Stellenbosch, we urge residents to conserve water wherever possible. Our region remains water-sensitive, and sustained high temperatures during February and early March place additional pressure on water resources. Responsible water use is a shared responsibility within our community. By using water carefully, we help safeguard a vital resource and contribute to the long-term sustainability of our region.

Note: Irrigation of Welgevonden Estate’s gardens and green areas is done using borehole water and does not affect the availability of potable water.

Traffic light: T-junction Hendrikse Road / R44

The information below was provided by Megan Bruwer, a traffic engineer and a Welgevonden Estate resident, and the Stellenbosch Municipality.

The R44 traffic light is programmed to end the green phase for vehicles exiting Hendrikse Road from Welgevonden and Cloetesville if no vehicles are detected. For this, a small fisheye camera positioned to the left of the road, creates a virtual detection loop at the stop line.

If vehicles leave too large a gap between them when turning onto the R44, the signal controller may automatically interpret this as no further vehicles approaching and will change the traffic light to red. This is designed to maximise green time for traffic on the R44.

To help prevent this, maintain an approximate two-second / 3 m gap to the vehicle ahead of you when approaching and entering the intersection. Similarly, if a vehicle in Hendrikse Road stops too far back from the stop line when the traffic light is red, the virtual loop may not be activated, and the traffic light may not change to green.

During peak hours the traffic light is set for maximum duration per green phase for both these roads before switching over. Therefore, waiting time to enter the R44 from Hendrikse Street may be longer than during off-peak hours. However, the principle of not leaving too big a gap between vehicles when approaching the intersection, still apply.  

Best regards

Gawie Marx

Estate Manager

16 February 2026