Wednesday, 22 April

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.

• Listen to the audio recording.
• Read the media release.