From the DVC’s Desk
Re-energising UCT research
20 April 2021 | Professor Sue Harrison
Dear UCT staff, postdoctoral researchers and postgrad students
I am sure that the damage of the Table Mountain fire at the University of Cape Town (UCT) is weighing heavily on you members of the institution’s core research team and professional research support team, just as it is on UCT’s Executive. We are now taking stock of the damages, the losses to UCT and the work to be done to return the university to full operation.
While we are certainly all feeling the pressure of this new disruption to teaching and learning and research at UCT, we are pleased to report that all our staff and students are safe, following the efficient evacuation from campus on Sunday. For this we express appreciation to the UCT teams who jumped into action and ran operations smoothly to protect our people and, wherever possible, our buildings and facilities. We also celebrate the tireless work of the City of Cape Town fire and emergency services. Both groups demonstrated a superior level of commitment and teamwork.
With teamwork in mind, I encourage each of you to give your first attention to your personal safety and well-being. While many of you will be able to work remotely on research, we are aware of the demand that this crisis may place on others. UCT is prioritising efforts to restart our research activities, including those on campus, so that we can all return to work as soon as our personal circumstances allow.
Of course, our major tragedy is the loss of the Jagger Library Reading Room and, with it, some of our Special Collections. These have been key research facilities for many of you, whose access was already limited by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of the Pearson Building was also damaged, but I am pleased to report that the historic Bolus collection, which is housed there, remains intact. The damage to the building and the need to preserve this important collection will affect Biological Sciences and related research.
In addition to the physical losses, the research programme has been set back by the fire. While fire damage to our buildings is variable, there is the risk throughout our operations of smoke inhalation, especially as the fire continues to burn across the city and wind direction may change. Until the fire is extinguished, evacuation remains a possibility.
For these reasons, and because we need to assess the safety of UCT buildings, we request all staff and students to remain off campus. We will reopen our academic buildings as soon as possible and will issue instructions for returning to campus when it is safe to do so.
If your research requires urgent attention on campus and you have not already been contacted about it, please email Dr Linda Mtwisha.
We look forward to rebuilding UCT’s on-site research over the coming months, not only to put behind us the effects of the pandemic and the fire, but also to continue to unleash our capacity as researchers to help build a fair and just society. UCT’s focus on social impact remains as strong now as it ever was.
Many thanks for your understanding and your commitment to knowledge generation, translation and sharing, building the Africa-focused knowledge base of South Africa and the rest of the continent.
Sincerely
Professor Sue Harrison
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation
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#UCTFire – one year later
The Centre for Curating the Archive, in association with Michaelis Galleries (UCT) and UCT Libraries will stage a memorial exhibition marking the one-year anniversary of the tragic Jagger Library fire at the Michaelis Galleries. The exhibition will open to the public on Wednesday, 20 April 2022.
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Content submitted by members of the UCT community has been published with little to no editorial intervention from UCT News.
In an email to UCT students, Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said:
“Thank you for your patience as we seek ways to return to full academic activity at the University of Cape Town under COVID-19 regulations. Our first priority is to ensure the health and safety of everyone who needs to return to campus buildings.”
UCT is deeply grateful to all the donors who supplied food and other essential items for our students, and to everyone who has so generously offered other forms of support and assistance.
Everyone who would like to support the #UCTFire emergency relief fund is urged to please make financial donations to UCT through the UCT Alumni Ways to Give web page.
Donations can also be made by EFT using the details below:
Account name: UCT Donations Account
Bank: Standard Bank of South Africa
Branch code: Rondebosch Branch, 025009
Account number: 07 152 2387
Swift code: SBZAZAJJ
Please include your donor name if you so wish, as well as the reference for your donation, e.g. Name Surname, #UCTFire.
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