Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng was officially robed as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town today, 13 December, having served in the post since 1 July this year. UCT Chancellor Mrs Graça Machel invested Professor Phakeng with her robe of office at a ceremony that was held as part of a special graduation in Memorial Hall.
The Vice-Chancellor celebrated her robing in the company of some 100 inspirational and special graduands from all six academic faculties, many of who were able to graduate thanks to donor funding which cleared their student debt. Among the congregation was a group of Golden Graduates, returning to their alma mater 50 years after their graduations in 1968.
Professor Phakeng is UCT’s 10th vice-chancellor and only the second woman to hold the office after Dr Mamphela Ramphele, who served from 1997 to 2000.
The December graduation season will see 1 885 students capped, including 118 doctoral and 780 master’s students.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Please view the republishing articles page for more information.
Marking a decade since the 2016 Shackville protests, UCT’s Faculty of Humanities launched a Digital Humanities programme featuring augmented and virtual reality installations that revisit the protest site and reflect on questions of space, belonging and institutional transformation.
08 May 2026Commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Jagger Library fire, UCT Libraries launched an exhibition that brings together salvaged materials, research and new ideas to reflect on how knowledge can be preserved and shared more equitably.
24 Apr 2026The ‘Be Quick to Click’ campaign is turning road safety into a lived experience, pushing for urgent behaviour change to prevent traumatic brain injuries in children.
01 Apr 2026