Universities are shaped by the knowledge they produce, by the difficult questions they pose, and, importantly, by the injustices they are willing to confront to reimagine a better world for all. This has been the proud ethos embodied by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) since its inception in 1960.
Conjured in the darkness of apartheid, UWC was reserved for people classified as “Coloured”, granted a limited educational purpose under the regime of the time. It was built to fail; therefore, the institution’s transformation into a bastion of change through education is an anomaly – an annoyance to its architects.
Students and staff relentlessly opposed the apartheid regime – not only through protest, which unleashed the wrath of the security police, but through careful, unified opposition grounded in knowledge and steeped in strategic intent.
By 1982, the university had formally rejected the apartheid ideology on which it had been established, declaring its commitment to non-racialism and to the development of disadvantaged communities. A year later, it gained autonomy under the University of the Western Cape Act.
Under Professor Jakes Gerwel, who became Rector in 1987, that transformation acquired a distinctive intellectual and political character. UWC declared itself “an intellectual home for the left”, creating space for curriculum renewal, pioneering research and engagement with the social and policy questions of the day. It also formalised an open admissions policy, widening access to students from communities previously excluded from meaningful opportunities in higher education.
It was within this history that, on 28 November 1990, UWC became the first South African university to confer an honorary doctorate on President Nelson Mandela following his release from prison. President Mandela recognised the significance of what had happened at UWC, describing the university as an institution that had “thrown off the shackles of its apartheid origins” and sought to serve the majority of its people.
That moment offers a striking historical symmetry for the honorary doctorates being conferred today.
Francesca Albanese, Adila Hassim, Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, Mandisa Monakali, Loyiso Nongxa, Grace Naledi Pandor and Mary Robinson come from different generations, disciplines and walks of life. However, their work reflects a common conviction: that knowledge, leadership and courage can be placed in the service of human dignity, equality and social transformation.
Albanese has brought international law and human-rights advocacy to some of the world’s most contested questions. Hassim has used the law as an instrument for advancing constitutional rights and social justice. Maxeke’s life embodied the liberating power of education and the struggle against racial and gender exclusion. Monakali carried that struggle into communities, working to protect women and children from violence. Nongxa’s career in mathematics and higher education reflects intellectual excellence and the breaking of racial barriers in academia. Pandor has connected education, scholarship and public service with the development of a democratic South Africa. Robinson’s career has placed human rights, equality and human dignity at the centre of public leadership.
Their lives, therefore, speak directly to UWC’s enduring identity. The university's history is one of transforming exclusion into access, resistance into scholarship, and knowledge into action. Its honorary doctorate tradition similarly recognises people whose distinguished service and intellectual contributions align with UWC’s values.
Our motto, Respice Prospice — “Look back, look forward” — is a reminder of the moments when a university’s past and present meet with remarkable clarity. For the University of the Western Cape, the conferral of these honorary doctorates offers such a moment: an opportunity to look back at the institution's extraordinary journey and forward to the kind of society that knowledge, courage and ethical leadership can help create.
