Chancellor Comes Full Circle
LEADER: Prof Brian Figaji chatting about his return to CPUT on CapeTalk radio ahead of his installation.
Tuesday, 09 December 2025
CPUT’s new Chancellor Prof Brian Figaji sees his new role as one of enhancing the vision for the institution and supporting the leadership as the university enters its third decade.
Figaji is an opinionated voice in the Higher Education sector, and he has spoken publicly on the quality of leadership and its impact on post-school education. With 25 years of experience at the former Peninsula Technikon, and countless more serving on the boards of fellow universities and in the business world, Figaji’s opinions carry considerable weight.
He says his role as Chancellor is to observe and speak directly to the Vice-Chancellor and Chair of Council if he sees room for improvement.
“While it is a ceremonial role I am not likely to be silent. However if I want to raise things I will do it directly with the VC and Chair and Council,” he says.
“I think Prof Nhlapo is quite focused and has done a lot to building CPUT and healing divisions which was caused by the merger.”
Speaking ahead of his official installation on Wednesday, Figaji said it was heartwarming to see the seeds of projects sown during his tenure now fully in bloom at CPUT.
One such project is the connection to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US. The idea was first touted by Figaji during his term as Peninsula Technikon Rector and over the decades many useful linkages like funding initiatives and staff exchanges happened with the US based university renowned for its engineering and science programmes. Figaji credited Nhlapo for seeing the benefit of this and maturing the initiative into new directions.
Figaji is CPUT’s third Chancellor. He was the Rector of Peninsula Technikon for 10 years of the 25 he spent at the legacy institution.
The installation ceremony will be livestreamed via the YouTube channel.
Written by Lauren Kansley
Email: kansleyl@cput.ac.za
Liaises with the media and writes press releases about interesting developments at CPUT.
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