Wednesday, 22 April

22 April 2020
 

14:25

The University of Cape Town (UCT) will provide pre-paid data to all students with valid South African cellphone numbers, using information provided via UCT’s PeopleSoft record-keeping system. 

Students will receive between 30 and 40 GB depending on their network provider, valid for 30 days during the next week. Students not registered on PeopleSoft are encouraged to log on and provide their mobile numbers immediately.

Cell C, Vodacom and Telkom have agreed to zero-rated access to certain UCT sites. These sites include:

  • the primary UCT website
  • the library website
  • Vula
  • Opencast lecture streaming
  • web authentication ADFS.

Should staff or students be authenticating to a site other than the ones listed above as zero-rated (such as LinkedIn Learning, for instance) that site will incur data charges.

For students who cannot access the internet in any form, the university is setting up an additional system to distribute printed learning material and USB drives.

Students are encouraged to contact their faculty advisors or departments via Vula with any questions that relate to online learning or the receipt of printed learning materials and USB drives.

For technical questions, students can also contact the ICTS Helpdesk by emailing icts-helpdesk@uct.ac.za or phoning 021 650 4500 during office hours.

The UCT community is invested in getting students through this difficult and uncertain time.

Read the VC’s Desk.


11:30

The University of Cape Town (UCT) has set up a COVID-19 emergency fund to assist in the fight against the virus and its impact on the UCT community.

Staff, students and alumni are urged to rally behind the fight against the pandemic by making contributions to the fund. Any amount will go a long way towards assisting UCT readjust to these extraordinary times.

UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng will donate 20% of her salary to the fund for a three-month period. The VC will also continue to donate 10% of her salary to the Mamokgethi Phakeng Scholarship Fund every month.

In addition to the COVID-19 emergency fund that has been set up through the Development and Alumni Department, UCT Council has approved a separate R30 million fund to assist the university with responding to the pandemic. Funds already raised, including the R5 million donation by the Motsepe Foundation, have provided an invaluable source of crucial support for UCT in implementing a range of measures to support students. These include the purchase of laptops for students in need so they can continue with online learning and assistance with travel arrangements for students, including to other African countries.

When the lockdown is lifted, funds will support a critical need to ensure the safety of everyone through, among others, the purchasing of all the necessary personal protective equipment.


Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Please view the republishing articles page for more information.


UCT’s response to COVID-19

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March 2020 and to implement a national lockdown from 26 March 2020. UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated with the latest COVID-19 information. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change depending on current lockdown regulations.

Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has in June 2022 repealed some of South Africa’s remaining COVID-19 regulations: namely, sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions under the National Health Act. We are now no longer required to wear masks or limit gatherings. Venue restrictions and checks for travellers coming into South Africa have now also been removed.

In July 2022, the University of Cape Town (UCT) revised its approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic on UCT campuses in 2022.
Read the latest document available on the UCT policies web page.

 

Campus communications

 
2022

Adjusting to our new environment 16:50, 23 June 2022
VC Open Lecture and other updates 17:04, 13 April 2022
Feedback from UCT Council meeting of 12 March 2022 09:45, 18 March 2022
UCT Council
March 2022 graduation celebration 16:45, 8 March 2022
Report on the meeting of UCT Council of 21 February 2022 19:30, 21 February 2022
UCT Council
COVID-19 management 2022 11:55, 14 February 2022
Return to campus arrangements 2022 11:15, 4 February 2022

UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre

On Wednesday, 20 July, staff from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences came together with representatives from the Western Cape Government at the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at Forest Hill Residence to acknowledge the centre’s significance in the fight against COVID-19 and to thank its staff for their contributions. The centre opened on 1 September 2021 with the aim of providing quality vaccination services to UCT staff, students and the nearby communities, as well as to create an opportunity for medical students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to gain practical public health skills. The vaccination centre ceased operations on Friday, 29 July 2022.

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.

 

“After almost a year of operation, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, located at the Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, will close on Friday, 29 July 2022. I am extremely grateful and proud of all staff, students and everyone involved in this important project.”
– Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.


Thank You UCT Community

Frequently asked questions

 

Global Citizen Asks: Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe & Effective?

UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) collaborated with Global Citizen, speaking to trusted experts to dispel vaccine misinformation.



If you have further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine check out the FAQ produced by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF). The DTHF has developed a dedicated chat function where you can ask your vaccine-related questions on the bottom right hand corner of the website.

IDM YouTube channel | IDM website
 

 

“As a contact university, we look forward to readjusting our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 2023 as the COVID-19 regulations have been repealed.”
– Prof Harsha Kathard, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning

We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.

 

TOP