South Africa's best universities named in new world rankings
As reported by BusinessTech , eight South African institutions made the cut, though their overall performance slipped compared to last year.
And although no local universities broke into the global top 100, three secured places within the top 500.
The ARWU is one of the most influential global university rankings, heavily weighted toward research strength and academic recognition. Its methodology is based on six key indicators: Alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (10%)
Staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20%)
Highly cited researchers across 21 subject categories (20%)
Publications in Nature and Science (20%)
and (20%) Papers indexed in major citation indexes (20%)
Per capita academic performance (10%)
The University of Cape Town (UCT), ranked in the 201–300 range, maintains its position as the country's top university.
This year, however, it shares the spot with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), which moved up from the 301–400 range to join UCT in the same tier.
Stellenbosch University, placed in the 401–500 range, holding steady compared to 2024.
The eight South African institutions in the top 1 000 were as follows: 2024
Range 2025
Range University 2023
Local # 2024
Local # 201-300 201-300 University of Cape Town 1 1-2 301-400 201-300 University of Witwatersrand 2 1-2 401-500 401-500 Stellenbosch University 3-4 3 401-500 501-600 University of Johannesburg 3-4 4-5 501-600 501-600 University of KwaZulu-Natal 5-6 4-5 501-600 601-700 University of Pretoria 5-6 6 601-700 701-800 North-West University 7 7 901-1000 801-900 University of South Africa 8 8
Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1.
Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
How the IRIS robot is revolutionising education in South Africa with AI
Left: KwaZulu-Natal Deputy Director-General Mbongiseni Mazibuko, IRIS founder Thando Gumede, and Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina at the IRIS launch in Durban on Tuesday. Image: Supplied The Science, Technology and Innovation Department has moved to allay fears that the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will further push the unemployment rate higher in South Africa. Speaking at the official launch of AI educational robot teacher, IRIS, in Durban on Tuesday evening, Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Nomalungelo Gina urged people to embrace technology that comes with AI, dismissing the assertion that it will further strain unemployment in the country, as most businesses will reduce their reliance on intensive labour and opt for AI. Gina said the department has started a campaign to demystify the wrong perception people have about AI and urged them to see it in a positive light 'It's high time that we embrace technology, particularly AI. We must change our mindset and accept that life is evolving. As a department, we must demystify the perception that science is for specific people or learned people. We live science on a daily basis,' said Gina. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading She further stated that the country must take pride that IRIS was invented by a South African, and more so by a woman, particularly one from the deepest rural area of KwaZulu-Natal. She added that the bigger problem in the country is that for a long time, people produce what they don't consume and consume what they don't produce, and that must change. She noted that when the government introduced Shesha lanes at tollgates and bank cards, many were sceptical, believing this would lead to job losses. However, today everyone is happy with these changes because they enhance convenience. The department pledged to support the innovation and work hand in hand with its founder, Thando Gumede. Speaking at the event, Gumede said she experienced gender-based challenges with her innovation because some men saw a potential girlfriend more than a business partner. Born in Hluhluwe in the north-east of the province, the businesswoman's tech company, BSG Technologies, made history by becoming the first in the country to design an educational tutor robot that possesses knowledge of subjects from Grade R to tertiary level, in all 11 official languages of South Africa. She said her robot will revolutionise the education sector and bridge the digital gap in the country, particularly in the fields of science and technology. The innovative robot will provide personalised learning, interactive lessons, and real-time feedback, empowering students to reach their full potential.
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
City challenges UCT findings over pharmaceutical pollution in Hout Bay
The City has hit back at the findings of a research team, led by UCT's postdoctoral research fellow Dr Cecilia Ojemaye, which detected a range of PPCPs in mussel tissue samples collected at significant distances from the marine outfall and the Hout Bay River mouth. Image: Armand Hough/Independent Newspapers THE City has hit back at the findings of a UCT study that detected a range of pharmaceutical and personal care product compounds (PPCPs) in mussel tissue samples collected at significant distances from a marine outfall and the Hout Bay River mouth. Deputy Mayor and Mayco Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Eddie Andrews said the authors of the study appear to be doing no more than speculating when they state that the marine outfall does not achieve the dilution and dispersal of contaminants of emerging concern. 'Their work did not include an analysis of PPCPs in effluent, river water or in coastal waters, and analysed only mussels found in situ in the coastal environment. This study cannot draw conclusions as to the source of the contaminants or the extent of the impact zone of the marine outfall, nor the effectiveness of its design, based on the methods and results presented. 'We look forward to engaging further with the authors in an appropriate forum on various concerns we have with the extensive conclusions they have drawn from a very limited study that did not investigate all of the aspects captured in its conclusions,' Andrews said. According to the study, Hout Bay's marine environment is seriously threatened by PPCPs that persist and bio-accumulate in marine life, even kilometres away from pollution sources. Andrews said the challenge of the removal of PPCPs from wastewater is by no means unique to Hout Bay or to Cape Town. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading 'Wastewater treatment works globally do not generally effectively remove contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) from sewage, irrespective of the level of treatment. The removal of CECs from municipal wastewater is complex due to their diverse chemical structures, low concentrations, and resistance to conventional treatment methods. Advanced treatment technologies such as ozonation, reverse osmosis, and membrane filtration can be utilised to remove some CECs, but implementation of these technologies can be expensive and energy intensive and is not always a practical option at scale. 'Even our most sophisticated newly upgraded wastewater treatment works cannot treat wastewater in a manner that removes all trace of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern. The City recently undertook a comprehensive feasibility study to explore the options for replacing its existing marine outfall pipelines with new wastewater treatment works, and has reported on the outcomes of this study in various public forums. No decision has yet been made on the timing of the replacement of the outfalls with new treatment works,' Andrews said. He added that the recent study did not in fact assess the volumes of PPCPs discharged via the marine outfall pipeline and could not have found that PPCPs were detected in significant volumes in effluent. "The source referred to (a report by the CSIR in 2016) detected 21 PPCPs in Hout Bay wastewater but did not make any findings on the significance of the concentrations or loading. The same study found that 'Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were not detected in the tissue of mussels or rock lobsters collected along the Cape Peninsula in 2016.' The other source cited by the authors for this claim is a 1995 Water Research Commission assessment of methods for determining dilution effectiveness, and has no relevance to the statement about recent studies on PPCPs.' Andrews said in 2022, the City commissioned a more wide-ranging assessment of PPCPs in its coastal waters which found in summary that 'the impact of the discharges on shoreline waters was limited at the time of the surveys' and that the 'number of pharmaceutical compounds found, and their total concentration was fairly low at Hout Bay Beach inshore of the Hout Bay outfall. Mayco Member for Water and Sanitation, Zahid Badroodien added that while the Hout Bay marine outfall currently operates within its design parameters and complies with national discharge regulations, they recognised that CECs, including pharmaceutical and personal care products, pose new challenges globally, and that these are currently not treated in most municipal wastewater treatment works the world over.
The South African
2 days ago
- The South African
South Africa's best universities named in new world rankings
The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy has published its 2025 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), highlighting the top 1 000 universities in the world, including South Africa's best. As reported by BusinessTech , eight South African institutions made the cut, though their overall performance slipped compared to last year. And although no local universities broke into the global top 100, three secured places within the top 500. The ARWU is one of the most influential global university rankings, heavily weighted toward research strength and academic recognition. Its methodology is based on six key indicators: Alumni winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (10%) Staff winning Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals (20%) Highly cited researchers across 21 subject categories (20%) Publications in Nature and Science (20%) and (20%) Papers indexed in major citation indexes (20%) Per capita academic performance (10%) The University of Cape Town (UCT), ranked in the 201–300 range, maintains its position as the country's top university. This year, however, it shares the spot with the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), which moved up from the 301–400 range to join UCT in the same tier. Stellenbosch University, placed in the 401–500 range, holding steady compared to 2024. The eight South African institutions in the top 1 000 were as follows: 2024 Range 2025 Range University 2023 Local # 2024 Local # 201-300 201-300 University of Cape Town 1 1-2 301-400 201-300 University of Witwatersrand 2 1-2 401-500 401-500 Stellenbosch University 3-4 3 401-500 501-600 University of Johannesburg 3-4 4-5 501-600 501-600 University of KwaZulu-Natal 5-6 4-5 501-600 601-700 University of Pretoria 5-6 6 601-700 701-800 North-West University 7 7 901-1000 801-900 University of South Africa 8 8 Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
