University of the Witwatersrand: Wits celebrates its 100th birthday

Witsies were full of celebration and jubilation as they came out in their numbers to celebrate Wits’ 100th birthday. Staff and students gathered outside the Great Hall for a cake cutting ceremony led by the Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Zeblon Vilakazi. Staff and students sang ‘happy birthday’ on the Piazza. Vilakazi and members of the executive team were also challenged to a Hamba Ha TikTok challenge, which they accepted.

On 4 October 1922, the inauguration of the University of the Witwatersrand was duly celebrated, seven months after the institution was officially granted full university status on 1 March 1922. The delay in the inauguration ceremony was due to a strike by miners over wages and working conditions.

Today, Witsies celebrated the illustrious history of this great institution. Wits staff and students across all faculties and departments were in high spirits, as they were treated to a performance by one of their own, Zenaye Skosana, who wrote and co-produced the official Wits 100 song titled For Good. The School of Wits Construction Economics and Management choir led the audience in song.

Vilakazi addressed the audience, highlighting the University’s success in research and innovation over the last century and proclaimed that the University will continue to pursue academic excellence for the next 100 years and beyond.