From the Vice-Chancellor
TB Davie Memorial Lecture by Professor Ramose
12 August 2026
Dear colleagues and students
The University of Cape Town (UCT) will host the 60th TB Davie Memorial Lecture on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, and we are honoured to welcome Professor Mogobe Bernard Ramose as this year’s distinguished speaker.
Established by UCT students, the TB Davie Memorial Lecture commemorates Thomas Benjamin Davie, UCT’s Vice-Chancellor from 1948 to 1955 and a steadfast champion of academic freedom. Organised by the Academic Freedom Committee (AFC), the annual lecture provides a platform for leading thinkers to engage with issues that shape academic and human freedom in South Africa and beyond.
In his lecture, titled Spes bona through “the Cape of Storms”, Professor Ramose will revisit the historical meanings associated with the Cape, from Bartolomeu Dias's naming of the "Cape of Storms" to the later renaming of the headland as the "Cape of Good Hope". He will reflect on the symbolism of UCT's motto, Spes Bona, and consider how these histories continue to shape contemporary understandings of justice, memory, knowledge and freedom.
Drawing on African philosophy and the philosophy of ubuntu, Professor Ramose will offer a critical perspective on colonial legacies while inviting reflection on the role of universities in fostering dialogue, truth and reconciliation.
Professor Ramose is one of South Africa’s foremost philosophers and a pioneering scholar of African philosophy. His work has been instrumental in bringing ubuntu into global philosophical discourse and has shaped debates on justice, reconciliation, sovereignty and human dignity. He is currently a research professor at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and a researcher in the Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria. His distinguished academic career has spanned institutions across Africa and Europe, and his influential publications continue to enrich scholarship worldwide.
As we mark the 60th TB Davie Memorial Lecture, Professor Ramose’s reflections promise to stimulate thoughtful discussion on history, philosophy, academic freedom and the responsibilities of universities in a democratic society.
I warmly invite the UCT community to join us for this landmark lecture.
Date: Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Time: 18:00
Venue: New Lecture Theatre (New LT), upper campus
Live stream: UCT social media platforms
The 60th TB Davie Memorial Lecture offers an important opportunity for the UCT community to engage with one of South Africa’s leading philosophical voices on questions that remain central to our society and our university. I warmly encourage colleagues, students and members of the public to join us for this landmark lecture.
Sincerely
Professor Mosa Moshabela
Vice-Chancellor
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