The University of Cape Town has a formal institutional policy titled Policy on Anti-Racism, Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment (first approved in 2009, updated and approved by Council in June 2022) and related institutional procedures and mechanisms that apply to the university as an institution — its staff, students, teaching and research activities, and university operations. UCT ties the policy to institutional culture, teaching, research and operations. The policy’s stated purpose makes clear it is intended to shape “university culture” and applies beyond individual disciplinary matters to education, research and university operations. Policy preamble:

“The purpose of this policy is to prevent the violation of human dignity and freedom through the imposition of disadvantage, stereotyping, or political or social prejudice … This policy seeks to eliminate racial harassment and racial discrimination through education and engagement programmes or through disciplinary measures.”

Operational mechanisms and institutional coverage

UCT has established institutional structures and operational mechanisms to implement and enforce this policy across the campus:

• Office for Inclusivity & Change (OIC) — tasked with leading implementation, training, awareness, case management and institutional responses to discrimination and harassment; it is the central unit that provides institutional responses across student and staff cohorts.
• Case reporting and case management — UCT has a centralised digital case reporting system for GBV, discrimination and harassment intended to be accessible and to reduce re-telling by survivors; this tool supports confidential reporting and case tracking and is a university-level operational tool that covers discrimination and harassment reporting.
• Specialised tribunal and disciplinary procedures — UCT has (since 2021/2022) introduced specialised tribunal arrangements and disciplinary mechanisms to address GBV and racial discrimination cases with urgency, signalling that the policy is backed by institution-level disciplinary processes.

Policy review and governance (institutional adoption)

UCT announced a formal review process for the Policy on Anti-Racism (invitation to participate dated Aug 13, 2024), indicating it is managed through university governance channels (DVC for Transformation, Senate/Council approvals, OIC coordination). That announcement references the policy by name and describes the review as taking an in-depth look at administrative policies and procedures — further evidence the policy is part of UCT’s institutional governance and operations.

The University of Cape Town has a Council-approved anti-racism / anti-discrimination policy (Policy on Anti-Racism, Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment, June 2022) that is explicitly framed to prevent violations of human dignity across university life and applies across the institution — supported by a central Office for Inclusivity & Change, a digital reporting/case-management system, and disciplinary/tribunal mechanisms.