This list of the notable alumni of the University of Cape Town is divided into the six faculties of the university: Commerce, Humanities, Sciences, Health Sciences, Engineering, and Law.
Commerce
Raymond Ackerman, businessman, who purchased the Pick 'n Pay supermarket group from its founder Roelof Botha, grandson of Pik Botha; began his career as an actuary and became a venture capitalist Chelsy Davy, ex-girlfriend of Britain's Prince Harry Sir Bradley Fried, ex-chief executive of Investec Bank Plc Geordin Hill-Lewis, Mayor of Cape Town (2021- ) Nick Mallett, played for and later coached the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team Tshediso Matona, CEO of Eskom Mark Nielsen, CEO of Talent Mark Shuttleworth, billionaire entrepreneur; founder of Canonical Ltd; sponsor of the Ubuntu Linux distribution; second space tourist Lance Levy, CEO of Capco Polly Courtice, Founder Director of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and member of the Supervisory Board of Mercedes Benz Group Torbjorn Sjogren, Vice president of Boeing’s International Government and Defense organization Angela Hwang, Chief Commercial Officer and President of the Global Biopharmaceuticals Business at Pfizer and a member of its Executive Leadership Team Peter van Binsbergen, CEO of BMW Group South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa
Humanities
Lauren Beukes, international best-selling author of The Shining Girls, winner of Arthur C. Clarke Award J. M. Coetzee, Professor Emeritus, Literature, 2003 Jean Comaroff, professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago John Comaroff, professor of anthropology at the University of Chicago Harold Cressy, head teacher and first coloured person to gain a degree in South Africa Janette Deacon, archaeologist specialising in heritage management and rock art conservation Roger Ebert, film critic, graduated with an English degree as part of a Rotary International program David Fanning, Emmy Award-winning producer of Frontline Bobby Godsell, Masters of Arts, later CEO of AngloGold Ashanti and Chairman of Eskom Johannes de Villiers Graaff, professor of welfare economics; economist Adrian Guelke, Professor of Comparative Politics at Queen's University Belfast Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, deputy prime minister of South Africa, obtained an M.A. at the age of 17 Philip Edgecumbe Hughes, New Testament scholar, Professor at Westminster Theological Seminary Edward Neville Isdell, former CEO of the Coca-Cola Company Gail Kelly, CEO of Westpac; 8th most influential woman in the world, according to Forbes magazine David Lewis-Williams, Professor emeritus of Cognitive Archaeology at the University of the Witwatersrand specialising in Upper-Palaeolithic and Bushmen rock art Gwen Lister, South African-born Namibian journalist; anti-apartheid activist; founder of The Namibian Nicolaas Petrus van Wyk Louw, Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, PhD from the University of Cape Town. Steven Markovitz, award-winning film and television producer André du Pisani, political scientist and professor at University of Namibia Nik Rabinowitz, comedian, actor and author Mamphela Ramphele, managing director of the World Bank; former Vice-Chancellor of UCT Isaac Schapera, Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics; leading expert in the anthropology of South African tribesmen Nora Schimming-Chase, Namibia's first ambassador to Germany, obtained a teaching diploma from UCT in 1961 Carmel Schrire, Professor of Archaeology, Rutgers University Robert Carl-Heinz Shell, South African author and professor of African Studies Lady Skollie, feminist artist and activist Lady Kitty Spencer (born 1990), English model Andries Treurnicht, founder and the leader of the Conservative Party in South Africa Elizabeth Anne Voigt, archaeologist and director of the McGregor Museum Mary Watson, 2006 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing Ebrahim Patel, held positions as South African Minister of Trade and Industry and as the Minister of Economic Development, on the University Council of UCT and was former staffer in the Southern African Labour and Development Research Unit in the School of Economics. Archie Mafeje, anthropologist and activist who significantly contributed to the decolonization of African identity and its historical past, criticising anthropology's typically Eurocentric techniques and beliefs. He is also known for the "Mafeje affair".