Farewell to ED: Properties and Services: Mr Mughtar Parker

Dear colleagues and students

I write to express my gratitude and appreciation for the outstanding service and leadership of Mr Mughtar Parker, who will conclude his tenure with the University of Cape Town (UCT) at the end of January 2026. He was appointed Executive Director: Properties and Services (P&S) on 1 July 2018, and his contributions have been transformative, navigating the university through periods of both strategic evolution and unprecedented challenges. Under Mr Parker’s direction, UCT concluded several significant building projects that will serve generations of students and staff.

Mr Parker’s tenure was marked by a commitment to modernising UCT's infrastructure and operational efficiency, defined by strategic vision, resilience, empathy and a deep sense of service. His contributions have had a profound impact on UCT’s operations, infrastructure and long-term planning. He has led with integrity, strengthened systems and guided the university through moments that have tested our institutional endurance. His strategic vision laid the foundation for long-term sustainability of the institution from an infrastructure perspective.

He contributed to key strategic and operational milestones such as establishing a best practice real estate strategy and making excellent progress in its implementation; growing the team needed to deliver on this strategy, including greater capacitation of Occupational Health, Safety and Environment and Technology Services; and rebuilding the P&S executive team. His further milestones include the completion of a state-of-the-art Risk Operations Centre facility; growing UCT’s use of technology in real estate, making this a key component of the real estate strategy – specifically the concept of an Integrated Workplace Management System and its need at UCT; and deploying Archibus as the chosen solution.

During load-shedding periods, his leadership helped stabilise the university's operations to a degree where teaching, learning and research could continue effectively. He was also behind the process of reforming the University Building and Development Committee and sub-committee structures and Terms of Reference into a more focused, effective and efficient structure, while also significantly enhancing governance and accountability, and the introduction of a new model for student housing bed capacity through the innovative Lease To Own model.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Parker led the critical operational response, ensuring the safety of the UCT community and the continuity of essential services through establishing the UCT PPE Store, developing the UCT COVID-19 app and setting up the Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at the Forest Hill precinct.

During the 2021 fire on UCT’s upper campus, Mr Parker’s leadership was pivotal. Under his guidance, approximately 8 000 students were safely evacuated from UCT residences and transported to places of safety through a coordinated operation involving Campus Protection Services, the UCT Shuttle Service and the Commercial Development division; and P&S staff – from Gardens and Grounds, Maintenance, Campus Planning and Design, to Programme Management – all played an integral role in supporting the extensive mop-up operations that followed.

Mr Parker's significant capabilities were recognised through key leadership appointments, including serving admirably as UCT’s acting Chief Operating Officer from 1 August 2023 to 31 March 2025. Furthermore, his expertise was acknowledged on the global stage, where he represented UCT as the Global Chairperson of the International Alliance of Research Universities’ Real Estate Working Group.

On behalf of the UCT community, we are grateful for his leadership, dedication and commitment to our university. We wish him every success in his future endeavours and thank him for the invaluable legacy he leaves behind.

Acting arrangements are in the process of being finalised and will be communicated in due course. 

Sincerely

Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor

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• From the UCT Executive
• Campus Announcements

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