Annual Bongani Mayosi Memorial Lecture and other updates

27 January 2021 | Campus Announcement

Dear students and colleagues

This campus announcement aims to keep the UCT community informed about recent developments at the institution.

1. Annual Bongani Mayosi Memorial Lecture: A celebration of African scholarship

The Annual Bongani Mayosi Memorial Lecture will take place on 28 January 2021 at 18:00 (SAST) on the MS Teams platform. Professor George Mensah will present the lecture. He is a clinician-scientist who currently serves as the director of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health in the USA.


2. Revised EE policy

UCT has updated its Employment Equity (EE) policy and its annual EE reporting. The revised policy will come into effect on 1 February 2021, following Council’s approval last month. This policy sets out clear principles that underpin decision making that affects people in the workplace.

The revised policy enables the institution to enter the new year with a fresh approach to EE implementation, by providing clear definitions of key concepts; encapsulating the key principles that are embedded in EE legislation; and covering EE implementation guidelines at every stage of an employee’s life cycle in the organisation, including a dispute resolution mechanism for interpreting UCT’s EE plan.


3. UCT Open Textbook Award recipients announced

The inaugural UCT Open Textbook Award recognises outstanding and/or influential open textbooks written by UCT staff and students. It carries a value of R30 000. This award is an initiative of the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, in collaboration with the Digital Open Textbooks for Development project in the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching.

The 2020 Open Textbook Award is shared by Professor Johan Fagan and Dr Michael Held for their respective contributions to the open access teaching and learning of two important healthcare fields.


4. ICTS scheduled maintenance on Sunday, 31 January

Please note that on Sunday, 31 January 2021, 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 2021 before planning any teaching, conferences, meetings, and other activities that require ICT services.

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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.

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.

 

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