The 50-year reunion of the University of Cape Town’s medical class of 1975 was held in April 2025 in Cape Town. In autumn each year, UCT holds its graduation ceremonies for all faculties. The class’s 50-year reunion, with its programme of activities, coincided with UCT’s golden graduation ceremony, where all UCT graduates of 50 years ago attend as guests of the Vice-Chancellor. The 2025 golden graduation ceremony was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor of UCT, Professor Mosa Moshabela, who had been installed in November 2024. 

Dr Joan Louwrens, the class representative of the class of 1975, chronicles her class’s reunions over the years.

MBChB class of 1975: Reunions down the years

By Joan Louwrens (permanent class representative)

I joined this medical class in 1971, in their second year. I was a transfer from chemical engineering and felt humbled and grateful to be granted acceptance into the esteemed medical faculty. I was soon asked to become the class representative. Having no idea what this entailed, and feeling somewhat obliged to contribute as a late starter, I agreed. 

This class has just celebrated its golden graduation. It has been 50 years since we graduated. We arranged our 50^th class reunion to coincide with the golden graduation celebrations. If I had realised way back in 1971 that I would end up as class rep. for life and, with help, organising a reunion every 10 years, I would have ducked the job. 

But our 50-year reunion made up for all the long years of work, the frustrations, the disappointments, the fear of failure, the misunderstandings and irritations, and replaced these with the deep feeling of a coming together, of meaningful connection, of acknowledging past injustices, of sharing stories of grace, joy and pain, and giving us all the chance to celebrate life. In the words of Ray B. Evans, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin:

“Reunions reinforce our common bonds, regenerate our friendships and reinvigorate our spirits in appreciation of life’s different but parallel journeys.”

Our class lived through great political turmoil and unfairness. It affected us all and divided the class. I took my job very seriously and tried to achieve unity on many issues, but how was this possible when the students of colour were only permitted to be in the class by special permit…and were not allowed free access to all the patients at Groote Schuur Hospital? There was even lingering sexism in those years ― the joke being that in our class, there were three sexes: male, female and female medical students! I worked hard to be open to all grievances, but in our final year had to accept that part of our class, our students of colour, would not present themselves for the final-year photograph and would not attend the final-year dinner. It was a protest to indicate that they never felt full members of the class, due to the apartheid policies of the country.

Ten years on, in 1985, I was asked to organise the 10-year reunion. Perhaps I was singled out because in my position as past class rep., I was probably the only one who knew everyone’s name. It was my job to try to keep in contact and keep us together. We were a very divided class. I held out little hope for its success. Many of our class had departed the country, seeing no hope for racial harmony. My husband had just died from metastatic melanoma the previous year, so perhaps a distraction and a giving of effort to a reunion was potentially healing. I recruited some willing helpers, and with the assistance of the alumni office, we cobbled together an event. I gaze now at the photograph taken in the Students’ Union. There are 31 delegates. None are of colour. In the front row sits Dr Reg Coogan, who had lectured us in community health and delivered the address before dinner in the Students' Union. The photograph was taken by Akkersdyk Studios, the photographer who seemed to take all the UCT photographs for decades.

The 1995 reunion photograph shows 34 class members in attendance. It is also taken in the Students’ Union, and Professor JC de Villiers, head of neurosurgery, was the invited speaker. Our small organising committee had worked hard to get the word out that we needed to see more of our class and that we needed to connect, as South Africa now had Nelson Mandela as president and a new, democratic constitution. It was time to talk about past injustices and to celebrate where we all were as doctors with a valuable UCT degree. I see Asgar Kalla in the second last row, who was my sounding board during my undergraduate years, and Julie Jaffer sits smiling in the front row. They are joined by five other representatives of their group. It was a joyous reunion, with a feeling of unity starting to grow. 

The 30-year reunion, held in 2005, still has an Akkersdyk Studio photo, but it marked the start of our new style of reunions. There is no guest speaker. Forty-seven delegates stand, smiling broadly, on the steps of the Alphen Hotel. Our dinner speakers were all classmates, and they carried ideas from those sitting at their tables. For me, coordinating the speeches felt so good, so representative, such fun, and gave me a new meaning to reunions. We had also extended events to include a cocktail party, an academic morning and a family event on the day after the formal dinner. The picnic on the top of Table Mountain was greatly enjoyed. I was almost prepared to organise the next reunion…

2015 swung around too fast. The Akkersdyk photograph of this 40-year reunion is more formal, taken in the wood-panelled dining room of Smuts Hall Residence. The front row is almost exclusively female. There are a total of 47 delegates. Michael Hayden addressed the dinner gathering and related the story of the Masipumelele Adolescent Centre that he had started with donations from the class and other Canadian donors, as a gesture of ‘giving back’ to the country of his birth and education. Fezeka, a young lady from the area, spoke movingly about how the centre had benefited the community. Again, class members were encouraged to share stories and ideas on a few topics handed out to each table. This reunion also went over three days and included some tours of the medical school and Groote Schuur. The Sunday outing was to Hillcrest Winery, owned by Rick Haw, my brother-in-law. The feeling of special bonds between colleagues, family and friends was growing.

On to this year… 2025…the 50-year reunion. UCT, our beloved South Africa and the world have all gone through enormous change. There are wars raging, accusations of genocide, pronounced racial divisions, hunger, refugee crises and retrogressive moves on gender equality emerging. The photograph, now, as times dictate, only in digital format, and finally, not taken by Akkersdyk Studio, shows a smiling group of predominantly grey-haired folk, standing close to each other on the lawn of a beautiful garden, with the outline of Devil’s Peak towering in the background. The feeling of camaraderie is almost palpable. Dinner awaits the 46 delegates and their chosen partners. Maureen Stein, my long-suffering and very capable helper, catches my eye. We have done it….with lots of help. We have succeeded in making this reunion an unforgettable success. The gathering was blessed with goodwill, a desire to reach out, tell our stories, heal past wrongs, laud the successes of our classmates, mourn the loss of the 26 who have died and feel that we have all made progress in extending the hand of friendship and understanding.

We all hope to meet again, this time in five years, for our 55^th-year reunion to celebrate life and the privilege we enjoy to have been graduates of the UCT medical class of 1975.