Upcoming UCT inaugural lectures and other updates

12 April 2023

Dear colleagues and students

The first two lectures in the reconfigured UCT Inaugural Lecture series will take place on 19 April and 10 May 2023, to be presented by Professor Jeff Murugan and Professor Kirsty Donald respectively. Read more about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. Upcoming lectures in the UCT Inaugural series

The UCT Inaugural Lecture series will get underway over the next four weeks.

On Wednesday, 19 April 2023, Professor Murugan will present a lecture titled “The Future is Quantum – a random walk in the landscape of mathematical physics”. It will take place in Lecture Theatre 1, School of Economics Building, Middle Campus from 18:00.

The second lecture, titled “Context matters: Risk and resilience in early childhood brain development”, will be presented by Professor Donald on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. It will be held in the Neuroscience Auditorium, Health Sciences Campus, from 18:00.

Read the Interim VC Desk: Upcoming lectures in the UCT Inaugural series.

2. OIC to co-host colloquium on model policy framework

The UCT Office for Inclusivity and Change (OIC) will collaborate with Gender Dynamix to launch a Model Policy Framework which is centred around fostering inclusion in institutions of higher learning. The launch includes the hosting of a colloquium on Friday, 14 April 2023 in commemoration of International Transgender Day of Visibility.

The colloquium, themed “Troubling cis(heteronormative) institutional practices through the paradigms of trans(formative) policy”, will be held in Lecture Theatre 1, Level 3, Neville Alexander Building, Lower Campus at 13:00.

It will be held in in collaboration with the Gender Based Violence Unit at the University of Fort Hare and the Centre for Sexualities, AIDS and Gender at the University of Pretoria.

3. UCT’s Centre for Extra Mural Studies upcoming events

Please note the amended dates for the two events to be hosted by the UCT Centre for Extra Mural Studies in the next few weeks. The In Conversation session with Distinguished Professor Jonathan Jansen and Emeritus Professor Anwar Mall will be held on Wednesday, 3 May 2023 in Lecture Theatre 1, Kramer Law Building, Middle Campus.

The session is titled: “Why universities are not exempt from corruption”. The entrance fee is R110 (general), R100 (Friends of Summer School) and R55 (UCT staff and students). This session will examine the ways in which some South African universities remain in a state of chronic dysfunction.

Book via Webtickets: Why universities are not exempt from corruption.

The centre will also host a virtual short story course from 29 April to 27 May 2023. Facilitated by Sally Cranswick, the course is titled: “Write a short story: from concept to completion”. It will be presented via Zoom on Saturdays from 10:00 to 12:00 and will take a maximum of 20 participants.

4. ICTS scheduled maintenance on Sunday, 16 April

Please note that Sunday, 16 April will be an ICTS scheduled maintenance slot from 09:00 to 17:00. Unless advised to the contrary, do not expect any
on-premises ICT services to be available for the duration of the maintenance slot. Cloud-based services (including Amathuba, email, Microsoft 365 services, and ServiceNow) are not impacted and can still be accessed.

Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots page before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, etc that require ICT services.

5. Updates relating to the Two Oceans Marathon

As a result of the Two Oceans Marathon scheduled to take place on 15 and 16 April 2023, some UCT Shuttle routes will be affected due to road closures and traffic congestion in and around campus over the two days. Staff and students are urged to plan their journey accordingly by consulting the UCT Shuttle timetables or the UCT Shuttle app for any additional updates on impacted routes.

Please also be advised of some planned road closures in the vicinity of the UCT campus on the two days.

All students, staff and valid parking disk holders will be allowed on campus on both days of the event.

Please note the below information on road closures on campus. Please expect some delays. Traffic officials will assist to manage traffic until Monday, 17 April 2023.

Thursday, 13 April from 09:00 – Madiba Circle East will be closed intermittently.
Saturday, 15 April – Upper and Middle Campus will be closed from 05:00 to 15:00. Traffic officials and/or CPS will control access.
Sunday, 16 April – Upper and Middle Campus will be closed from 05:00 to 13:00. Traffic officials and/or CPS will control access.
Saturday, 15 April and Sunday, 16 April – South entrance from the M3 will be closed from 04:00 to 15:00. Please expect delays on these days.
Saturday, 15 April – P1, P4, P5, P6, P7, P8 and P17 on Upper Campus will be closed from 05:00.

Please also note the following parking arrangements:

P6, P7, P8, P15, P16, Tennis Court area and Madiba Circle West on Upper Campus will be used as prepaid parking.
P10, P11, P12, P14, P17 and Madiba Circle West on Upper Campus will be reserved for UCT parking disc holders only on both marathon days.
P1, Economics and All Africa House area on Middle Campus will be used as prepaid parking. P2 will be reserved for the Two Oceans Marathon.

6. Bargaining engagements with UCT Employees Union

UCT management will bargain separately with the UCT Employees Union (UCTEU) for PASS staff in pay classes 7–12 in line with the recognition agreement signed with the union and in compliance with the advisory award issued by the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in March. This follows a dispute referred to the CCMA by UCTEU related to bargaining for PASS staff in pay classes 7–12, in which UCTEU held the sole bargaining rights. As part of the advisory award, the CCMA recommended that the parties engage in further wage negotiations only for 2023. Although the advisory award is non-binding, UCT management has committed to implement the outcomes in the spirit of maintaining good labour relations.