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Faculties of Law and Health Sciences graduation ceremony - 13 December at 18:00

13 December 2018 | Video Nico Badenhuizen. Photo Michael Hammond.

The faculties of Law and Health Sciences shared the stage at a graduation ceremony held in Memorial Hall at 18:00 on Thursday, 13 December.

Among the Law graduates was Raymond Suttner, who withdrew his thesis from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1969 because he refused to anonymously cite “listed” communist Professor Jack Simons.

At the request of UCT’s Public Law Professor Dee Smythe last year, Suttner recently submitted his thesis, which was examined and approved. The activist, academic and political analyst, who is today visiting professor and strategic adviser to the Dean of Humanities at the University of Johannesburg, has finally seen his work on customary law acknowledged 49 years later.

The ceremony saw postgraduates (except PhD candidates) in the Faculty of Health Sciences being robed, with a further ceremony on 14 December to cater for the PhD candidates and undergraduates.

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December graduation


The 2018 December graduation season features six ceremonies, including the official robing of Vice-Chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng.


 

Full ceremony recordings



 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Creative works and book awards


UCT recognises and celebrates major creative works and outstanding books produced by members of staff at the university.

Twin cities connect struggle and liberation sites Associate Professor Svea Josephy received a Creative Works Award for her solo exhibition, Satellite Cities, at today’s graduation. It is one of three such awards. 13 Dec 2018
Symphony of elements wins Creative Works Award Professor Hendrik Hofmeyr, of the South African College of Music, receives a Creative Works Award at today’s graduation for his composition Second Symphony – The Elements. 13 Dec 2018
Creative Works Award for Womb of Fire Dr Sara Matchett’s Creative Works Award winner, Womb of Fire, addresses how centuries of violence in South Africa continue to play out on women’s bodies. 13 Dec 2018
UCT Book Award for classics scholar Professor David Wardle’s work Suetonius: Life of Augustus has won him the 2018 UCT Book Award. 13 Dec 2018
 

Inspired to achieve


Read about some of our remarkable students who are graduating this season.

Four doctors, two families make it a double It’s not often that two sets of brothers who are close friends graduate from the same two faculties – and each with the title of doctor. 14 Dec 2018
Commitment, passion and dogged determination Due to graduate with a PhD in Medical Biochemistry, Kehilwe Nakedi reflects on her academic journey and the pleasure of seeing things finally fall into place. 12 Dec 2018
UCT remedies a past injustice The story of Raymond Suttner receiving his LLM from UCT almost half a century after withdrawing his thesis from examination has captured imaginations around the country. 11 Dec 2018
Unspeakable tragedy yields master’s degree When Mabuyi Mhlanga’s young daughter died in a car accident two years ago, she channelled her grief into addressing the issue of road safety around schools. 11 Dec 2018
‘I want to reach the places my father did not’ Tafadzwa Mushonga will be the first PhD graduate from the Centre for Environmental Humanities South, forging ahead from where her father left off. 10 Dec 2018
A passion for education From a young age, masterʼs graduand Sonwabo Ngcelwane has seen education as the key to rising above one’s circumstances – no matter how challenging. 10 Dec 2018
Never too late to overcome the odds PhD candidate Witness Kozanayi relied on his determination, the support and sacrifice of others, and a fascination for his homeland to fuel his academic success. 07 Dec 2018
Growing pesticide, lead threat to vultures Vultures play a vital housekeeping role in the wild, but like many African raptors they’re threatened by pesticide and heavy metal poisoning, says PhD candidate Beckie Garbett. 07 Dec 2018
 

Golden memories


Members of the University of Cape Town’s class of 1968 will reunite to celebrate their Golden Graduation this week. Madi Gray, a veteran of the nine-day Bremner sit-in of 1968, will be among those UCT alumni celebrating this milestone.

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