The University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of South Africa (Unisa) have continued their fine form as the country’s leading institutions of higher learning.
This comes after the two institutions were awarded top honours by the 2024-2025 US News Best Global Universities rankings and the University Impact Rankings by Times Higher Education (THE), respectively.
UCT was also ranked in the top 100 for seven subjects and in the top 200 for a further 10.
This comes only a few days after UCT broke into the top 100 for the first time in another set of rankings – the 2024 Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings – which placed UCT 77th in the world.
Meanwhile, Unisa made the Top 6 list Universities in South Africa on the University Impact Rankings 2024 by Times Higher Education (THE).
UCT spokesperson, Elijah Moholola said the US News Best Global Universities Rankings placed UCT at 116th position, up from 125th last year adding that this ranking differs from most other widely recognised world university rankings because it focuses solely on academic research and reputation.
“The methodology measures a university’s global and regional research reputation and academic research performance using indicators such as publications, citations (the number of times a publication is referred to), and international collaboration,” he said.
Reacting to the latest ranking, UCT’s acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Internationalisation, Professor Jeff Murugan, said: “While rankings assess various aspects of university quality, such as academic reputation, research output, faculty expertise and student satisfaction, they often don’t capture the full breadth of the impact of our work.
These rankings typically focus on measurable criteria, but universities also play a vital role in shaping public policy, promoting informed public discourse, advancing science and strengthening democracy and human rights. These contributions, though harder to quantify, are essential to the holistic value that universities provide to society.”
Tshimangadzo Mphaphuli from Unisa said the latest improvement in performance should be attributed to the leadership provided by its Vice- Chancellor, Professor Puleng LenkaBula.
“Unisa has long been a cornerstone of higher education in Africa, but the recent accolades and achievements under the leadership if Professor Puleng LenkaBula,have firmly established it as a competitive force if the global academic stage,” said Mphaphuli.
Mphaphuli added that according to the rankings, Unisa which was on the verge of being placed under administration by former higher education minister Blade Nzimande last year, was listed as one of the universities that excel across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Star