The English Language Centre was opened in 2015 by Simon Harrison. The brainchild of former Dean of Humanities, Professor Sahkela Buhlungu, it was UCT’s first offering of an English as a Foreign Language programme and the ELC was one of the first university departments in Africa dedicated to teaching English as a Foreign Language.

Simon and Sakhela’s vision was to develop a pedagogy of English as a Foreign Language that was rooted in the African and Global South context, while supporting faculty with their income-generating activities. In 2017, the ELC Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language was launched, the precursor to the TEFL Graduate Certificate, the first of its kind in South Africa.

The Centre has grown rapidly since it opened in 2018 at Dover House and in 2022 at 70 Wale Street, expanding to twenty-four classrooms by 2023. The Centre also works to support and advance the South African EFL sector through communities of practice with other Higher Education institutions and membership of the South African EFL industry body, EDUSA.