As acting chief operating officer, my primary objective was to ensure business continuity and stability to the environment, while still ensuring the service delivery of essential business support services. I have shared some highlights of what we have achieved collaboratively as a team in a sector that is under constant financial pressure. My thanks to all those who contributed effortlessly to achieving these objectives and goals.

Properties and Services Department (P&S)

Load-shedding mitigation

The maintenance and operations team, working under severe pressure, has managed to stabilise the university to a degree where teaching, learning and research could continue. While we still have a fair way to go, P&S has submitted a full plan to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) that articulates how we intend to manage load-shedding over the next few years. We have managed to successfully install inverters in some residences, while others are on the waiting list. A total of 138 inverter units and 370 lithium phosphate batteries were strategically deployed to sustain critical loads at various venues and the acquisition of five mobile generators bolstered the university’s capacity. The installation of UCT’s first commercial-scale inverter/battery backup system at the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering buildings was a significant milestone.

Rochester House

The team also successfully managed to complete the Rochester House refurbishment over the December 2023 vacation period to allow students to occupy the buildings. This was a very complex and high-pressure project.

Fire safety

Efforts to enhance fire safety compliance included upgrades to fire detection systems across multiple campus buildings. Notably, four heritage structures at the Hiddingh Campus underwent modernisation with wireless fire detection systems. Concurrently, improvements to public address (PA) systems were successfully completed at the PD Hahn and Anatomy buildings.

Facilities management

A significant advancement in facilities management was achieved with the launch of the corrective maintenance platform on Archibus (Integrated Workplace Management System – IWMS) on 15 October 2023. P&S has also constituted a Maintenance and Operations Sub-Committee – which is representative entire university – to collaborate, prioritise and agree on a structured way forward to improve buildings across campus. Following the launch of the Archibus IWMS workplace services portal in 2022, the UCT community has logged over 30 000 service requests. In July 2023, the Archibus team updated the back-end system, with a major launch of the Building Operations Module, covering Corrective and Preventive Maintenance, Asset Management and SLA Management processes. The project is ongoing and is constantly evolving through stakeholder feedback to amend where it makes sense. We have also started the initial work on the access control system renewal project. Our current access control system is very dated and requires a refresh.

Additional CCTV surveillance

After an in-depth commercial evaluation, P&S Technology Services – in conjunction with Campus Protection Services (CPS) – appointed its strategic CCTV partner to assist with the rollout of additional surveillance throughout the campus. This increased the percentage coverage of the university grounds, and assisted in improving criminal detection and response.

Risk services

Following an extensive process, the preferred vendor (FS Systems) for CCTV equipment and servicing was approved by Council, with the new contract signed in late 2023. The first order – 95 Avigilon cameras with three network video recorders (NVRs) – will increase UCT’s recording and surveillance capacity. The risk services team has also been successful in reducing crime, particularly car theft, and has managed to break campus car theft syndicates through cooperation with the South African Police Services (SAPS). 

Online traffic administration system

The Traffic unit concentrated its efforts towards switching to an online administrative system to streamline the issuing of parking disks. Further innovations included the switch to hand-held scanning devices for all traffic officials to scan vehicle registrations. The admin team will no longer need to capture tickets, saving valuable person-hours.

Occupational Health Safety and Environment (OHSE)

The OHSE strategic governance framework was established in 2021, with noteworthy progress made to close the gaps in attaining alignment with the OHSE international standard, ISO 45001.

Key OHSE milestones for 2023

• Disaster and emergency procedures were refreshed following the April 2021 fire, with enhanced stakeholder engagement with the Cape Peninsula Fire Protection Association, City of Cape Town Disaster Risk Management Centre (DRMC) and South African National Parks (SANParks).
• Health and safety life safety risks were highlighted at Hiddingh Campus, resulting in the establishment of a working group to track progress and foster stakeholder collaboration.
• Hazardous waste governance and compliance processes were improved and reporting into the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries; as well as Western Cape Development Planning was revived.
• The OHSE communications strategy was initiated.
• The OHSE website was developed for easy access to documents, information and processes (a toolbox suite was developed).

Integrated Development Framework (IDF)

The IDF is a crucial planning tool for UCT, guiding its development and growth in alignment with its vision and goals. Negotiations are ongoing between UCT and the City of Cape Town to finalise the Land Use Application that UCT lodged in August 2022, as well as with Heritage Western Cape regarding the heritage agreement. UCT has allocated funding for the continued review of the IDF.

Strategic and catalytic projects

The following projects are underway and at various stages of progress:

• Nelson Mandela Memorial and School of Public Governance
• Residences Project in Mowbray
• The Polar Lab
• Project ARISE

The University Building and Development Committee (UB&DC), which governs all properties and services operations – under the chairmanship of Malcolm Campbell – met regularly during the period under review, as per the terms of reference. The UB&DC also held two successful strategy workshops, where essential planning and feedback took place.

UCT fire and related ongoing projects

New Jagger Library

The project entails two aspects and procurement is underway, starting with the masterplan, which should be in place in the second quarter of 2024.

Environmental Sustainability Directorate

In 2023, the university continued to work actively towards becoming a more environmentally sustainable campus, as part of its Vision 2030.

Carbon footprint

The draft Carbon Footprint Assessment Report for 2022 was compiled in 2023 and is currently under review. The report shows a positive reduction in greenhouse gas emissions under scope 2 (electricity consumption) compared to the 2012 baseline.

Water

From a water perspective, UCT saw positive progress in 2023 with the continued implementation of the university’s Department of Higher Education and Technology (DHET) funded Sustainable Water Management Strategy.

Green building and construction

UCT’s Hasso Plattner School of Design Thinking Afrika (d-school Afrika) received its 6 Star Green Star Design certification from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) in 2023. It is the only university to achieve this on the continent for a new building thus far. The university Council also approved the updated UCT Minimum Green Building Construction Standard policy in June 2023.

Sustainable campus

The Khusela Ikamva Sustainable Campus project continued to make positive progress in 2023, with a new Living Lab site identified in the Neville Alexander building on upper campus. In addition, UCT students won both streams of the Greenovate competition (Engineering and Property & Construction Management).

Information Communication and Technology Services (ICTS) Department

UCT ICT Strategy

The UCT ICT Strategy – approved by Council in late 2022 – aims to transition ICT from a technology-centric focus to a human-centric focus, in alignment with UCT’s Vision 2030.

The implementation planning in 2023 included identifying 13 programmes of work, each primarily owned by one ICTS director, which will incorporate the existing and new projects by which that programme will be delivered. The newly-formed ICT Strategy and Portfolio committee is a representative body including all major ICT stakeholders, with the purpose of prioritising projects and monitoring the execution of the strategy.

ICTS projects

In 2023, the ICTS Project Register included between 85 and 102 projects, including multi-year CAPEX-funded projects. Twenty-seven projects were completed, and 56 managed work items. Many of these projects are owned by units outside of ICTS and are undertaken in collaboration with those units.

A selection of projects from 2023:

1. Network: new/upgraded cabling and access points in 23 buildings.
2. Storage infrastructure is being renewed. Commissioning of the equipment is complete, and data is being stored on this equipment.
3. Telephonic services migration to Microsoft Teams, including migration of contact centres and classroom phones.
4. The SAP Success Factors Recruitment module was configured and is in use.
5. The UCT Traffic Management system (TMIS) was upgraded.
6. Various reporting development or improvement projects, including HR and PPS.
7. ICTS procured, configured, and distributed 1 585 laptops to first-year incoming NSFAS students during the First-Year Campus Reception.
8. Audio-visual and IT equipment was fitted into various meeting rooms and classrooms. Classroom data projector upgrades continued.

ICTS training

The ICTS training team ran 61 online training sessions, attended by 876 UCT staff members. The most popular were Drupal, Anywhere 365 (call centre technology), Office 365 and Dynamics 365. In 2023, 3 378 LinkedIn Learning online courses were completed, with 182 864 videos viewed.

Helpdesk and classroom support

The ICTS Service Desk resolved 51 424 incidents or service requests from IT users and the university switchboard took 8 367 telephone calls. In addition to supporting live online events, ICTS introduced a new service that streams live events to social media. A queue management dashboard was introduced to show how busy the ICTS Front Office and ICTS-on-Main Walk-in Centre are in real-time.

Information and cyber security

Email-related security measures have helped to combat phishing attempts and other vectors of attack. The procurement stage of the multi-year Information Security Management System (ISMS) initiative was undertaken in 2023.

ICTS-on-Main hybrid meeting rooms

The ICTS building was equipped with two hybrid meeting rooms for use by UCT staff.

UCT desktop equipment

ICTS conducted a formal tender process that recommended the appointment of three preferred vendors for computing devices, peripherals and associated services, which was approved by Council. ICTS further compiled a shortlist of five laptops available to UCT staff members, procured at 10% –20% below retail prices.

Events

In September 2023, ICTS once again hosted the Cyber Security Symposium Africa, attended by almost 100 individuals from higher education, as well as the public and private sectors. In addition, ICTS, together with Higher Education Information Technology South Africa (HEITSA), hosted the three-day, National Annual Technology Event (NATE) at the UCT Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) in July 2023, with over 200 representatives from 20 of South Africa’s 26 public universities in attendance.

Organisational change management (OCM)

ICTS established an OCM capacity to underpin and support projects through a standardised and consistent change management practice and platform.

Relationship management

ICTS established a relationship management function, virtual team and processes that will foster collaborative engagements with faculties and departments.

ICTS staffing

ICTS’ director of Customer Services was appointed for a further three-year term to steer its flagship Annual Leadership Institute. ICTS made 23 appointments since June 2023, bringing a diverse range of new talent and perspectives to the department.

Human Resources (HR) Department

Digitalisation and process improvements

A milestone for 2023 was the successful pilot of the SAP SuccessFactors eRecruitment module, which efficiently managed a sizeable number of vacancies and optimising our recruitment processes. Collaboration between HR Administration and Systems, the Recruitment Office and HR Client Services has resulted in a gradual adoption of this technology. HR’s commitment to digitalisation and process improvements was evident in the adoption of the Cross-Application Time Sheet (CATS) Fiori for overtime submissions and the automation of appointment letters and reports, as well as SAP configuration for employee relations (ER) case recording.

DHET support

The DHET continued to provide support, funding six-month graduate internship opportunities that were facilitated through the Staff Learning Centre. This resulted in the successful placement of 21 graduate interns across 10 departments. Additionally, staff continued to benefit from access to Education, Training, and Development Practices (ETDP) SETA discretionary grant awards, providing accredited development opportunities. In collaboration with the UCT GSB, the Staff Learning Centre introduced a successful Digital Transformation leadership programme. Succession mapping and career mobility practices were also piloted, utilising in-house technology developed by the Organisational Development team.

HR policies

HR continues to engage with the Research Support Transformation project to provide leadership related to the researcher staff value proposition. Policy revisions related to the fixed-term contracts, waiver of advertisement, and academic pay policies were approved by Council and implemented in 2023. These revisions ensure compliance while mitigating employment risks. The Soft Funded Academic Research Staff (SFARS) policy implementation plan was defined, with policy reviews underway. The implementation of the Policy Addressing Bullying has shown promising outcomes, with increased awareness among support services employees in distinguishing between instances of bullying and lawful instructions.

Wage negotiations and CCMA matters

UCT and the Academic Union successfully concluded the 2023 wage agreement through a protracted bargaining process, with the agreed 6% salary increase also extended to employees on professional, administration support and services (PASS) conditions of service. The Employee Relations team managed to successfully defend CCMA cases with a 90% success rate in favour of UCT.

Health and well-being

The implementation of the UCT Health and Well-being Strategy commenced, aligned with the university’s Risk Register, to manage health-related risks effectively. Counselling services were provided by the Independent Counselling and Advisory Services (ICAS) and the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), supported by onsite psychologists and social workers. As of 1 January 2023, a new primary healthcare provider was appointed for pay classes 2 to 6, with a Primecure nurse stationed at Bremner Building.

UCT Retirement Fund (UCTRF)

The UCTRF welcomed a new Board of Trustees. Additionally, two retirement seminars were conducted for individuals over 55 and 60. Moreover, the UCTRF extended FNB housing loans to support investments in solar and alternative energy sources.

Client services

HR Client Services undertook a review of the HR Business Partner (HRBP) and HRBP Manager portfolios to increase capacity to provide an improved, ‘client-centric’ service to clients.

HR remains steadfastly committed to service excellence, fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and employee wellbeing.