Welcome to Commerce

We offer two sought-after degrees: a four-year Bachelor of Business Science and a three-year Bachelor of Commerce as well as a range of Doctoral, Masters, Honours and Postgraduate Diploma programmes designed to ensure your success both locally and internationally. I encourage you to browse the webpages of our four departments Accounting, Economics, Information Systems and Management Studies where you will find courses to ignite your career. - Professor Don Ross, Faculty Dean

Faculty News and Highlights

In the heart of the country (13/05/2013) NEW
	It’s a wet day in Cape Town‚ and Philippi’s sprawling vegetable fields are caterpillar-green under heavy skies. In one small corner along Varkensvlei Road‚ beyond the farmlands‚ there’s more activity than usual. A new school building for pre-schoolers is going up‚ and inside the security gates‚ small groups of people in hardhats and thick-soled boots wait to be briefed. "Who’s keen for the heavy machinery?" asks the foreman. Postgraduate student Salma Kagee’s hand goes up. "It sounds like a whole lot of fun‚" she says‚ straightening her pink hardhat and kicking the mud off her boots. Read More...
Black middle class doubles in eight years (13/05/2013) NEW
	South Africa’s black middle class has more than doubled over the past eight years‚ growing 250%: from 1.7 million South Africans in 2004 to an estimated 4.2 million last year. This dramatic growth has been revealed by new research conducted by the UCT Unilever Institute of Strategic Marketing. The Unilever Institute’s latest study on the black middle class‚ titled 4 Million and Rising‚ has found that the annual spend of the black middle class began pulling ahead of that of their white middle–class counterparts in 2008. It has since skyrocketed to over R400-billion per annum. Read More...
Pioneering development programme underpins commerce students' success (29/04/2013)
	An educationally challenged background need not hamper success at university level‚ as has been shown by a number of UCT Education Development Unit (EDU) commerce students who have walked off with top marks in what are often believed to be the most difficult commerce courses‚ including financial accounting‚ economics and statistics. In the past six years‚ students enrolled in the EDU Academic Development Programme (ADP) have often outperformed mainstream students in some key areas‚ achieving top honours. Read More...
Does glamorous alcohol advertising promote abuse? (26/04/2013)
	Rampant alcoholism is forcing alcohol producers and promoters to incorporate socially responsible messages in their mass communication to the public - but is it enough? This was the issue debated by marketing students in a lively panel discussion earlier this month. A lively group of professionals from the alcohol industry were brought to debate against concerned social groups (in the form of students) in UCTMA’s Panel Debate launch event‚ on Thursday‚ 11 April. This brought about members‚ alumni members as well as non-members flocking to the Kramer Law building to be treated to a debate on "The Proposed Ban on Alcohol Advertising in South Africa". Read More...
Possibilities‚ possibilities for hundreds of prospective students at Open Day (17/04/2013)
	The Mother City wore her finest on Saturday 13 April to welcome hundreds of prospective UCT students to Open Day. Learners from schools as far afield as Grahamstown‚ Johannesburg and Oudtshoorn jostled for information‚ particularly in the Jameson Hall where the Faculty of Science’s hands-on exhibitions drew scores of interested viewers. Many seemed agog by the array of possibilities for study. In the Leslie Social Sciences Building there were on–screen guides showing learners how to apply online. Formal lectures included those on the National Benchmark Tests by the Alternative Admissions Research Project and by the Careers Office on study choices‚ as well as slots by each of the six academic faculties. Read More...
Expand public employment programmes, says Hirsch (17/04/2013)
	Public employment programmes (PEPs) have been widely used for many years to help mitigate the temporary effects of natural disasters and economic downturns‚ while stimulating employment and inclusive growth. Such programmes are well understood and documented. However‚ there is also a wider case for public employment programmes beyond times of crisis‚ as part of longer–term employment policies‚ says Professor Alan Hirsch‚ head of the Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice (GSDPP). In response to the need to expand the scope for PEPs‚ the GSDPP held its fourth executive course in mid–March, titled Innovations in Public Employment Programmes. Read More...

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