Campus announcements
SRC elections ongoing and other updates
14 October 2020 | Campus AnnouncementDear students
This campus announcement aims to inform the UCT community about recent developments on campus.
SRC elections ongoing
The Students’ Representative Council (SRC) election period began on Monday, 5 October and runs until Friday, 16 October 2020. SRC candidate manifestos, leadership CVs and one-minute campaign videos can be viewed on the SRC and Student Faculty Council’s elections Vula tab.
All registered undergraduate and postgraduate students are eligible to vote online on the eBallot platform from 12 to 16 October using their UCT credentials to log in and cast their vote.
UCT Plus COVID-19 award
The UCT Plus programme was initiated as a Vice-Chancellor’s Strategic Initiative after being piloted in 2015 and approved by UCT Senate in 2016. This initiative rewards students for their work in elected leadership positions or mentoring and volunteering roles in various arenas by recognising these extracurricular activities as formal accreditations on their academic transcripts.
Students who have been volunteering at the COVID-19 front lines will now have their efforts formally recognised on their academic transcripts in the form of a COVID-19 Service Leadership Award. This year, there has been a 300% increase in the number of student societies signing up for UCT Plus, which manages this accreditation programme.
The award cycles are March to September 2020, October 2020 to March 2021 and April 2021 to September 2021. Surgical Society volunteers who volunteered on the front line between March and September should submit their time sheets to the society by 30 October or reach out to uctplus@uct.ac.za. UCT Plus would also like to hear from other student organisations that are managing student volunteers involved with COVID-19 front-line work.
UCT’s COVID-19 cases update
As at 13 October, UCT has had 103 reported positive COVID-19 cases among non-health sciences staff, with 90 recoveries.
Please note that for this week, the update only pertains to staff and students’ update will be shared next week. As at 6 October when the last update was shared, the reported students’ cases was 36, including 10 health sciences students on clinical platforms.
Nine staff and one student have been sadly lost to the pandemic.
ICTS scheduled maintenance
Please note that on Sunday, 18 October 2020, the Information and Communication Technology Services (ICTS) department will perform scheduled maintenance from 09:00 to 17:00. Unless advised to the contrary, staff and students should note that no ICT services will be available for the duration of the maintenance slot. Please remember to consult the scheduled ICTS maintenance slots for 2020 before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, and other activities that require ICT services.
Read previous communications:
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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.
Read the latest document available on the UCT policies web page.
Campus communications
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 PhakengWith 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.
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.