Fond farewells at Council year-end function

The University of Cape Town (UCT) Council’s year-end function took place on 6 December. The event, whose jovial atmosphere contrasted with the unusually grey weather outside, offered Council members and honoured guests an opportunity to reflect on the year and pay tribute to retiring council members and UCT colleagues.

The Council celebrated the end of the academic year, as well as exactly six months of its constitution at its closing event, held at Moyo in Kirstenbosch.

According to the Chair of Council, Norman Arendse SC, in the wake of much uncertainty at UCT brought on by ongoing fees protests and changes to senior leadership, Council in 2024 “wasted no time in reaffirming its commitment to remedying past governance failures and strengthening current structures” at the institution.

As is always the case in times of great difficulty, Arendse highlighted that it was the steadfastness of UCT’s people that enabled the governing body to begin steering the institution once again in the right direction.

“We are here to celebrate the significant contributions that three individuals – then Vice-Chancellor (interim) Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy, acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning Emerita Professor Linda Ronnie and Registrar Royston Pillay – have made to our university,” Arendse said in his opening remarks.

“These are three remarkable leaders who have dedicated themselves in the service and growth of this great institution. At the same time, we also feel the bitter sweetness of bidding farewell to colleagues and friends who have guided this institution through this challenging period.”

A sense of stability

Looking back on 2024, Emerita Professor Ronnie noted that the year had been an interesting one, thanks to the myriad challenges that UCT has faced. However, the outgoing Council member chose the more positive descriptor of “stabilising” for the past 12 months.

This included instituting the new vice-chancellor, Professor Mosa Moshabela, who was able to build on the work of Emeritus Professor Reddy to move UCT towards a place of greater stability.

“If I were to use one word to describe this year, it would be “stabilising”. We had Professor Reddy come in as interim vice-chancellor and he really reset the tone,” she said. “It’s great to see, now, that the new vice-chancellor, Professor Moshabela, is using that stability as a base to springboard off of and do even more exciting things in 2025.”

“My interest has been in making sure that we create a culture where everyone at UCT feels a sense of belonging.”

For Professor Moshabela, who officially took up the post of vice-chancellor in August of this year, this has come from an effort to create a more positive, inclusive environment at UCT.

“My interest has been in making sure that we create a culture where everyone at UCT feels a sense of belonging. Since I was announced [as vice-chancellor], I’ve been made to feel welcomed and comfortable, like I’m part of the team, that I should be here and that I belong,” he said.

“What I want is for everyone to feel that. I want everyone to feel like they’re at the right place, at the right time. It’s not possible to be the best version of yourself in an environment where you don’t feel welcomed or appreciated.

“So, we need to create that sense of community; that sense of belonging and togetherness. We need to appreciate and celebrate what our very talented people have done and are doing. That comes from living the institutional value of compassion and cultivating a spirit of generosity.”

People are paramount

This commitment to creating a more stable environment could not have been more welcome, considering the realities with which UCT was grappling at the outset of 2024. Although it was essential for the present, this attitude will no doubt be an asset to the institute in years to come; something which outgoing registrar, Pillay, highlighted in his address.

“This is a robust institution, but it is also fragile. It’s fragile because of its own successes and because of that strong brand and reputation,” he said.

“I have operated in a vortex of uncertainty, of ambiguity, of contestation, of change. The daily reality that has not been linear and sequential, but characterised by what is a multi-dimensional, rich picture drawn by many different variables, both anticipated and unanticipated.”

In this vein, Pillay pointed out, it is the people who give the institution its capacity to engage in – and benefit from – robust thinking, whether at the academic or professional level. This is something that can only be achieved in a conducive environment.

“When I was made an offer for this job and I decided to accept it, I was cautioned about how lonely the space can be. Of course, that caution was valid. I experienced that, but I also experienced a lot of wealth and support from many people in the time that I’ve been in this role,” he said.

“That is down to the people. It’s down to the community that lives within UCT. And that is the fundamental strength of UCT.”