The Department of Higher Education has announced that it is currently working on building two new universities that primarily focused on science and innovation as well as one focusing on early crime prevention.
According to the Higher Education Department’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, the first University will be built in the city of Ekurhuleni and the second will be built in Hammanskraal in northern Gauteng.
He also stated that the country has not had universities that have focused on taking advantage of the country’s capacity for innovation. He adds that there is also a high demand for specialised technical crime to combat South Africa's spiralling crime rate.
Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande had also stated that he had appointed a task team to conduct feasibility studies on the universities. He was addressing parliament during the national state of the nation debate earlier this week.
He further stated the new University of Science and Innovation will focus specifically on science and innovation subjects, including STEM subjects such as:
Data Science;
Machine-learning;
Artificial intelligence;
Blockchain;
Robotics;
Hydrogen-powered technologies such as smart transportation and logistics systems.
The second university will focus on crime detection and prevention. The new university is expected to increase the quality of general and specialised investigations conducted by the South African Police Service(SAPS).
