Wamkelekile, Welkom
UCT athletes pull out all the stops
23 April 2019 | Story Niémah Davids. Photo Supplied. Read time 3 min.
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Athletics Club is home to two new medals after an impressive performance by the institution’s athletes at the 2019 University Sports South Africa (USSA) tournament earlier this month.
UCT Athletics chairperson Oduor Ochieng praised students Sophie Cope, Amy Abrahams, Megan McCarley and Rebekah Swanepoel for pulling out all the stops in the women‘s half marathon and bringing home the team competition gold medal for UCT.
Thalosang Tshireletso, meanwhile, won a silver medal in the men’s triple jump.
Paralympian Mpumelelo Mhlongo, a chemical engineering PhD student, also put in an impressive sporting performance to qualify for the long jump final and 100-metre sprint semi-final, while medical honours student Christian Cotchobos finished in sixth place in the 800-metre men’s final.
A proud moment
Ochieng said he was especially proud of Mhlongo, who participated in two big events on the same day, describing his performance as “commendable to say the least”.
Mhlongo said he was excited to see that more athletes participated in this year’s USSA tournament than in previous years.
“There is no substitute for the value sport adds to an individual and community, especially given that one of the most historic moments of our democratic history was shaped by the ’95 rugby sporting moment of the nation lifting the [World] Cup.
“Whether I am in the green and gold or in the steel blue, I always burst with pride.”
“Whether I am in the green and gold or in the steel blue, I always burst with pride.”
Ochieng said while the club won one less medal than in 2018, an equal amount of training and planning went into this year’s sporting event and spirits remained high. He told UCT News that the club has also embarked on a journey of growth and transformation, the results of which will be evident only in future seasons.
“Competing at this level requires a lot of preparation and planning, and a lot of hard work has been happening behind the scenes. The mood has been joyful and reflective,” Ochieng added.
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The UCT Inaugural Lecture Series
Inaugural lectures are a central part of university academic life. These events are held to commemorate the inaugural lecturer’s appointment to full professorship. They provide a platform for the academic to present the body of research that they have been focusing on during their career, while also giving UCT the opportunity to showcase its academics and share its research with members of the wider university community and the general public in an accessible way.
In April 2023, Interim Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy announced that the Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture Series would be held in abeyance in the coming months, to accommodate a resumption of inaugural lectures under a reconfigured UCT Inaugural Lecture Series – where the UCT extended executive has resolved that for the foreseeable future, all inaugural lectures will be resumed at faculty level.
Recent executive communications
2025
2024
Professor Susan Cleary delivered her inaugural lecture on 14 March.
14 Mar 2024 - 5 min read
2023
Prof Lydia Cairncross’s inaugural lecture provided a snapshot of the career path of a surgeon and community activist whose commitment to social justice means her work doesn’t end in the operating theatre.
02 Nov 2023 - 8 min read
2022
Professor Linda Ronnie is in UCT’s Faculty of Commerce.
28 Sep 2022 - 6 min read
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2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016 and 2015
No inaugural lectures took place during 2015 and 2016.