The government is confident that a dedicated university of policing and investigations will help reduce crime. Higher education minister Blade Ndzimande said the decision to set up the policing university, planned to be located in Hammanskraal, North of Pretoria is in response to growing crime and dismally low conviction rates.
“You would know that as a country we don’t have very good detectives. Yes, there’s training in the SAPS but we need to have people trained at a much higher level than what we are currently having,” said Ndzimande during a media briefing in Pretoria.
The minister said a formal request was made by the police ministry to President Cyril Ramaphosa and work will soon begin.
Ndzimande said the move is not a departure from recent pronouncements by the government seeking to promote technical and vocational training for school leavers.
“Yes vocational colleges are important and we will continue to prioritise them, including community colleges because we need our people to be able to upskill themselves, even the older ones who did not get a chance in their earlier life but nothing will work if we can’t bring down crime,” he said during a media briefing in Pretoria.