A warm welcome to 2026

Dear colleagues and students

I would like to warmly welcome you all to 2026 and to a new academic year at the University of Cape Town (UCT). Whether you are returning after the festive season recess or joining UCT for the first time, I hope you have had the opportunity to rest, reflect and prepare for the year ahead. The beginning of a new year invites both reflection and renewal. It is a time to take stock of where we have come from, where we are currently, while also looking ahead with purpose and intention.

An African proverb reminds us that “One finger cannot lift a pebble.” This simple yet powerful saying captures something essential about who we are as a university: our strength lies in our collective effort, our shared knowledge and our willingness to work together in pursuit of common goals. Over the coming weeks, our campuses will once again become vibrant and active spaces as we move through registration, orientation and the start of the academic programme.

We look forward to welcoming the 2026 cohort of first-year students to Africa’s top university, and we wish them every success. To our returning students, welcome back. May 2026 be a year in which you continue to excel academically and contribute towards ensuring that UCT remains a top university. To our staff, thank you for the commitment, care and professionalism you bring to your work. The excellence and reputation of UCT rest on your dedication – whether in teaching and research, student support, innovation, administration or service roles that keep the university functioning every day.

Our mission as a university remains enduring: to provide outstanding teaching and learning, to advance knowledge through research that addresses the most pressing challenges of our time and to contribute meaningfully to the public good. In 2026, we will continue to strengthen academic quality, support student success and pursue research, innovation and entrepreneurship that speaks to the realities of South Africa, the continent and the world. We do this work in a context that is complex and often uncertain.

Universities globally are navigating social, economic and technological change, and UCT is no exception. What gives me confidence is the resilience of this community and our shared commitment to dialogue, integrity and collaboration. When we recognise that no single individual or unit can “lift the pebble” alone, we create space for partnership, mutual respect and collective problem-solving.

It is this spirit of collaborative effort that comes through when we look back at 2025, a year in which we grew together. We made meaningful progress, and I am deeply grateful for the dedication, creativity and resilience each member of our community showed.

In 2025, UCT remained on a path of excellence, maintaining its high global ranking by being placed first in Africa on all five major ranking bodies. Our academics and researchers continued to make an impact in their respective fields and added to the sea of knowledge while also contributing to solutions to some of the challenges society faces today. A number of our esteemed colleagues were inducted into respected professional bodies like the Academy of Science of South Africa. We continued to witness academic excellence among our students, as well as incredible sporting, leadership, artistic and entrepreneurial achievements.

In 2026, we shall be doing more to celebrate excellence in sports, leadership, art and entrepreneurship among our staff and students, in addition to academic excellence.

Looking forwarding to the 2026 academic year, we understand there will be challenges. But just like any challenges we have faced before, whatever 2026 will throw us will not be insurmountable when we approach everything as a community that cares about one another.

As we begin the year, let us do so with optimism, care and a renewed sense of shared purpose. Together, we will continue to shape UCT as a place of excellence and impact, characterised by ubuntu.

I wish you a successful, fulfilling and enriching year ahead, and I look forward to engaging with you throughout 2026.

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

Read previous communications:

• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements