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.
The bacteria in a mother’s breast milk are important because it helps develop a baby’s gut. Research shows this bacteria are different depending on where mothers live and what they eat.
Students want things to change at South Africa’s universities.
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The risk following recently ended economic booms in Africa is that, due to insufficient planning and excessive optimism, the windfalls were wasted. But there are signs that Africa may be changing.
Slaves’ stories are not commonly known. But historical archives hold a clue to individual lives.
Nic Bothma/EPA
It is possible to trace the links between patriarchy, violence, gender roles, and the state further into the past. It’s also possible to trace the ongoing resistance to these by some women.
Suppoters of outgoing South African public protector, Thuli Madonsela, outside her offices ahead of her last media briefing.
Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko
Far from the limelight, South Africa’s public protector has been instrumental in assisting individuals who grapple with unfair treatment from government departments and other public institutions.
2016 was a year of mixed fortunes in the development course of Africa.
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The recently broadcast TV mini-series, “Mars”, combines fiction and nonfiction in a way that places them in balance. This kind of combination is likely to feature in more television series and films.
2017 promises to be another tough year as South African universities head into the uncertain terrain of further addressing and healing the divisions that have been exposed.
Police guard a building at the University of Cape Town – from whom, since knowledge is not really owned by anyone.
Reuters/Mike Hutchings
A tone of bitter disillusionment dominates the book, which combines self-deprecating anecdotes with reflections on the unique strangeness of policing a post-apartheid South African city.
By the time pupils who struggle with Maths reach Grade 9, there are huge bottlenecks in the system.
REUTERS/Ryan Gray
Simply calling on people to eat less meat is not very useful. The consumption of meat, after all, is embedded within numerous social and cultural practices. But changing diets can benefit the planet.
Pre-exposure prophylaxis is providing an exciting new innovation to tackle HIV prevention.
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Trials have shown that rates of HIV infection are reduced if people not infected with HIV take anti-retrovirals - known as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). But adherence to a daily dose is a problem.
Children play alongside stagnant water and rubbish in Lagos, Nigeria.
George Esiri/Reuters
Africa battles with a dearth of data and seems unable to scale up health innovations. If these can be systematically addressed, the continent can take great strides towards better health for all.
A miner takes a break from sorting through coal at a mine in Vietnam. The country relies heavily on coal imports.
Julian Abram Wainwright/EPA
The rooibos industry has been accompanied by dispossession and adversity stretching back over centuries.
At the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Desmond Tutu promoted restorative justice. But focusing on individuals neglects broader contexts of violence and inequality.
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If violent contexts aren’t taken into account, restorative justice does not serve broader society. Instead it serves as a peacemaking process within a paradigm stacked against the poor and vulnerable.
More leadership is needed to tackle universities’ crises.
Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Humans have an innate interest and ability in naming biologically meaningful entities, or species. Taxonomy, then, vies for the title of world’s “oldest profession”.