Student Wellness Drive and other updates

19 April 2023

Dear students

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Department of Student Affairs’ Student Wellness Service (SWS) will host its annual Wellness Drive from Thursday, 20 April. Read about this and other recent developments on campus.

1. SWS Wellness Week to get underway

The Student Wellness Service (SWS) will host the annual Wellness Drive on Thursday, 20 April and Friday, 21 April 2023. The drive is intended to create awareness of holistic wellbeing for students at UCT. The event is held twice a year and offers a display of different services available to students. The drive aims to highlight healthy coping mechanisms, lifestyles and activities by inviting different stakeholders to partake in the event.

Join the SWS for a vibrant wellness experience with various art activities, including painting and many more, on Thursday 20 April from 09:00 at Sarah Baartman Hall on Upper Campus. On Friday, 21 April, activities will take place at the Health Sciences Campus in the Aadil Moerat and Barnard Fuller Quad/Courtyard from 09:00.

2. OIC to host Disability Inclusive Walk

The Office for Inclusivity and Change’s (OIC) Disability Service, in collaboration with the Students with Disabilities Forum, will host a disability inclusive health promoting activity called the Disability Inclusivity Walk this Earth Day, Saturday, 22 April 2023. The 5 km walk will take place at the Rondebosch Common to ensure that wheelchair users are also accommodated. Volunteers from UCT’s Disability Service will be available to assist visually impaired walkers and any other persons with mobility difficulties. This fun and healthy outdoor activity is open to the UCT community, with or without disabilities, along with their families.

3. Management responds to unlawful protest action

UCT management has taken the necessary measures to respond to the unlawful protest action which broke out on campus on Monday, 17 April 2023.

On Monday afternoon, about three lectures were disrupted at UCT’s Kramer Law Building. Later in the evening groups of protesters varying between 20 and 50 individuals blocked Baxter Road and started small fires on lower and upper campuses. The protest action resurfaced on Upper Campus late on Tuesday afternoon.

UCT management took the necessary measures to respond to the unlawful protest action through increased Campus Protection Services and the intervention of the SAPS as per the interim interdict granted by the Western Cape High Court in February 2023.

Management hopes to resolve the situation speedily and to work collaboratively with the Students’ Representative Council (SRC) in the best interest of the UCT community.

Read the Campus Announcement: UCT management responds to unlawful protest action.

4. Early retirement by former VC

Former UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng has taken early retirement as a professor at the School of Education with effect from 1 April 2023. Following her early retirement from the position of vice-chancellor on 3 March 2023, Professor Phakeng remained in UCT’s employment as professor and was due to retire on 30 March 2024. However, she has since elected to take early retirement.

Read the Chair’s Desk: Former VC’s early retirement from UCT.

5. Write a short story: from concept to completion from 29 April

The Centre for Extra Mural Studies will 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.

The aim of this course is to equip participants to write a short story, from flash fiction to a full-length short story. Participants will explore how to generate ideas, how to structure a short story, and writing techniques that are unique to short story writing. There will be weekly writing assignments and a final assignment, the short story.