From 1 July 2016 any overnight visits to the Cape Town Section’s three huts, namely Table Mountain Hut, Agtertafelberg Hut and Du Toit’s Kloof Hut must be pre-booked and prepaid. This includes if you are planning to camp next to a hut and make use of the hut facilities. Bookings can be made by emailing the office at bookings@mcsacapetown.co.za.
Please note:
- Bookings will open two months in advance of the first night of your intended stay. Booking requests longer in advance will not be accepted.
- Please check the hut availability on the relevant hut’s Calendar on the website prior to contacting the office.
- Bookings will only be confirmed upon receipt of payment. All payments to be made by EFT or cash over the counter in the office beforehand. Please only make payment once the office has confirmed availability.
- If for some reason you are unable to visit a hut, please cancel the booking by letting the office know, as a courtesy to other members who may wish to use the hut.
- All hut fees will be strictly nonrefundable. Proof of bookings (a confirmation email from the office) must be carried with you when you visit the hut, and be provided upon request.
The access procedures for other Sections’ huts remain unchanged, and can be found on the pages for those huts on this website.
Rationale for the Changes
The Cape Town Section has operated an informal booking system over the last few years whereby members could ‘book’ a CT Section hut through the office. This has led to a few unintended consequences, some of which include:
- Members booking a hut and subsequently not using the hut and not cancelling their booking, thereby depriving others of the opportunity to use the hut.
- Abuse of the honour system. Members not recording their visit in the hut register or invoice book and failing to pay their hut fees.
- Members who have ‘booked’ the hut finding it occupied upon arrival by another group who did not check the availability of the hut prior to their visit.
After receiving a strong mandate from members at the 2016 AGM, the General Committee has decided to change the booking procedure. The Committee realizes that this will restrict the minority who wish to make spontaneous visits to the huts at short notice (it only being possible to make bookings during Cape Town Section office hours). In time the Committee will investigate the possibility of implementing an online booking system to alleviate this inconvenience.
Emergencies
The changes to the booking procedure should in no way preclude the use of a hut in true emergency situations and we ask members to be accommodating should they need to share the hut in an emergency, regardless of whether the other party has booked or not.
The General Committee welcomes your feedback.
