Located on the slopes of Devil’s Peak in Cape Town, the University of Cape Town is a leading, research-intensive university in South Africa and on the continent, known for its academic excellence and pioneering scholarship. The university is home to a third of South Africa’s A-rated researchers (acknowledged by the Department of Science and Technology as international leaders in their field) and a fifth of the country’s national research chairs. UCT encourages students and staff to use their expertise to speed up social change and economic development across the country and continent, while pursuing the highest standards of excellence in academic knowledge and research: developing African solutions to African challenges that are also shared by developing nations around the world.
UCT, like the city of Cape Town, has a vibrant, cosmopolitan community drawn from all corners of South Africa. It also attracts students and staff from more than 100 countries in Africa and the rest of the world. The university has strong partnerships and networks with leading African and other international institutions - helping to enrich the academic, social and cultural diversity of the campus as well as to extend the reach of UCT’s academic work.
Informal workers, in particular women, took a big hit from the COVID-19 lockdown measures. A multi-faceted support package, informed by the gendered nature of work, is urgently called for.
Central bank (in the background) can no longer perform its function of being the lender of last resort.
Shutterstock
Zimbabwe wants to issue a sovereign bond to raise $3.5 billion it has agreed to pay as compensation to white farmers, but the economic and political conditions aren’t conducive to such an issuance.
Universities around the world are re-examining how they teach, do research and serve their students.
GettyImages
African countries should tread carefully over the debt relief offered by multilateral institutions and other lenders. It could prove very costly in the medium to long term.
AIDS activists lie down in protest in front of parliament in 2001 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Staging this conference in all time zones with fair distribution of prime-time events was no small feat. But the exchange of ideas, experiences and solutions remained a strong priority.
A woman carries a bucket of fresh water to an informal settlement in Khayelitsha,Cape Town.
COVID-19 has stretched South Africa’s public health services to capacity. In response, the services have increased their capacity through innovation.
Russian soldiers march during a Victory Day parade. The country makes guns and armoury as its main beneficiation output.
Photo by Dmitry Korotayev/Epsilon/Getty Images
Changes caused by COVID-19 in the higher education sector could alter the power dynamics between African researchers and those from developed countries.
In Africa, people who report higher levels of exposure to disinformation also report lower levels of media trust.
Non-profit organisation Nakhlistan and Mustadafin Foundation prepares food for underprivileged communities across the Western Cape.
Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Civil society activists responding to the COVID-19 social crisis face important challenges and tensions. They should tackle these choices head-on as they develop longer-term plans.
In a country marred by systematic discrimination and continued social marginalisation, particular consideration needs to be given to the measures being used to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Here are 5 ways governments can get young people off tobacco.
What South Africa’s West Coast might have looked like 5 million years ago. In the foreground, a giant wolverine feeds on a pig while chasing away a primitive hyena.
Maggie Newman, Geological Society of South Africa and the University of the Witwatersrand
To afford sufficient protection to marginalised people in society - such as women in minority religious communities - the state must recognise and regulate religious marriages in a nuanced way.
Nigerian teenagers need knowledgeable digital mentors and coaches.
Frederic Soltan/Getty Images
The poisoning incident in Guinea-Bissau represents a loss of around 5% of the estimated national population of Hooded Vultures, which makes up 22% of the entire global population.
Woman selling baobab fibre mats in Zimbabwe.
Rachel Wynberg