UCT names next chancellor

Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe

Image: Robert Scoble - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, Wiki commons

She takes the reins from Graça Machel, who was first elected in 1999. Machel’s second term will finish at the end of 2019. The chancellor is elected for a 10-year term. Moloi-Motsepe was elected by an electoral college consisting of holders of UCT qualifications, academic and PASS (professional, administrative support and service) staff, and students on Friday, 30 August.

In making the announcement, UCT’s chair of council, Sipho Pityana commented: “The university is privileged to have Dr Moloi-Motsepe serve as the chancellor of one of the leading institutions in the country and on the African continent. On behalf of UCT, I would like to thank the outgoing chancellor, Mrs Graça Machel for serving the university with remarkable distinction and great commitment for two 10-year terms, which spanned complex moments and incredible milestones.”

Moloi-Motsepe is a businesswoman and philanthropist who started her career in medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). She worked in various public hospitals in South Africa as well as at the Medical College of Virginia in the United States. Together with her husband, Dr Patrice Motsepe, she founded the Motsepe Foundation in 1999, and in 2013 they became the first couple from Africa to join The Giving Pledge.

In addition to its development work in South Africa and across the African continent, the foundation has international partnerships with the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, the Harvard Kennedy School, the Milken Institute and various other philanthropic organisations. Moloi-Motsepe established African Fashion International (AFI) in 2007. AFI’s mission is to aggregate the fragmented fashion and clothing industry on the African continent in order to make it commercially viable and sustainable.

The chancellor is the titular head of the university and presides at graduation ceremonies, confers degrees, and awards diplomas and certificates in the name of the university. The role of chancellor requires an individual of stature with exceptional personal qualities and integrity.

Moloi-Motsepe holds an MBBCh and a diploma in child health from Wits, as well as a diploma in women’s health from Stellenbosch University. She authored a resource guide for women across South Africa, The Precious Little Black Book, and has produced the Gender Responsive Budgeting Initiative South Africa.

Her professional associations include the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Leadership Board and Centre for Public Leadership Council, the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council, and the Cancer Association of South Africa (past president).