In his 2020 State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that government will establish a new Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal to improve the quality of general and specialised SAPS investigations.<\/p>\n
Expanding on this new university in a recent parliamentary Q&A, minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Blade Nzimande said that in terms of the Higher Education Act the institution cannot immediately be established as a university but will instead be opened as a ‘higher education college’.<\/p>\n
“A higher education college is an institution that is established by the minister, as an independent institution, to offer a scope and range of qualifications that is defined as relatively narrow, possibly in a specific field, e.g. crime detection, safety and security, and military studies.<\/p>\n
“It is likely to have a relatively small student population, e.g. less than 5,000 students when it is fully operational.”<\/p>\n
Nzimande said that the college will offer a range of qualifications and skills programmes including higher certificates, advanced certificates, diplomas, advanced diplomas, undergraduate degrees and postgraduate diplomas accredited through the Council on Higher Education (CHE)<\/p>\n
He said that the institution could also offer short skills programmes or occupational programmes accredited through the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO).<\/p>\n
“Once the college is fully established and it shows potential to grow further and expand, it could then be declared as a university college, under the governance structure of an established university,” he said.<\/p>\n
Formation<\/strong><\/p>\n Nzimande said that a project plan has been developed for Ministerial approval to set out the process and deliverables towards the production of a feasibility study for the new college.<\/p>\n He said that the study aims to address a number of critical issues including:<\/p>\n “A project management team will be set up to manage the process,” Nzimande said.<\/p>\n “The feasibility study will be undertaken in the current financial year and will determine the timelines for the establishment and development of the institution in line with a costed plan.”<\/p>\n He added that the feasibility study will also determine which disciplines will be taught by the institution.<\/p>\n These could include:<\/p>\n The feasibility study should provide guidance on how this public higher education institution would be differentiated based its mandate and mission, Nzimande said.<\/p>\n\n
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