UWC Greats 2025 - 2026: A Celebration of Excellence
Where it all began...
The University College of the Western Cape, as it was known, opened its doors in February 1960. A decade later, the institution gained independent university status and was allowed to award its own degrees and diplomas. On 9 February 1990, UWC’s first logo was registered with the Bureau of Heraldry – elements of which are evident in the current UWC crest.
Adila Hassim
Adv Adila Hassim SC is renowned for her distinguished legal career spanning almost three decades and for her unwavering commitment to..
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Naledi Pandor
Dr Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor is one of South Africa's most accomplished educators, parliamentarians and diplomats. Pandor obtained a Bachelor of..
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Loyiso Nongxa
Professor Emeritus Loyiso G. Nongxa is one of South Africa's most distinguished mathematicians and higher education leaders, whose career..
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Charlotte Mannta Maxeke
Charlotte Mannya Maxeke was a revolutionary educator, political activist and social reformer whose life transformed the struggle for the rights..
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Francesca Albanese
Francesca Paola Albanese is an internationally recognised legal scholar and human rights expert whose work has focused on international law..
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Mary Winfred Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson is an internationally respected lawyer, stateswoman and human rights advocate. A graduate of Trinity College..
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Mandisa Monakali
Mandisa Monakali was a pioneering South African human rights activist and community development leader whose life was dedicated to advancing the rights..
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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.
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Charlotte Maxeke is recognised as one of South Africa's foremost women's rights and political leaders. She has received numerous accolades and prestigious honours over the years, yet her stature demands further recognition. Across government and society, there are pillars of pride that carry her name throughout South Africa, including the posthumous award of the Order of Mapungubwe (Gold), the renaming of Johannesburg General Hospital as the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, and several university residences and academic facilities bearing her name.
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