Prof Witness Maluleke

Nominee's Province:
Limpopo

Age:
34

Project Name/Description:
Senior lecturer, University of Limpopo

More info:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-witness-maluleke-a17870100/?originalSubdomain=za

When Prof Maluleke, 35, was six years old his father, a police officer, was killed in 1992 during an unrest in Katlehong, south-east of Johannesburg. That incident influenced him to study policing at the Tshwane University of Technology, earning a Doctor Technologiae: Policing degree in 2016. Prof Maluleke, a qualitative rural criminology/stock theft researcher, is a senior lecturer at the University of Limpopo (UL), in Polokwane, in the Department of Criminology and Criminal justice. “I prepare my students to solve real-life problems,” says Maluleke. “Students need theoretical and empirical frameworks to combat, prevent and investigate various crimes and maintain public order.” Prof Maluleke, born at Xikukwani village, Giyani, Limpopo, has supervised 11 Master’s as well as two Doctorate candidates in the fields of Criminology, Forensic Studies Discipline and Policing. To fulfil his ultimate goal of “restoring the love for education to young people from South Africa’s rural areas”, the academic launched the biennial Hlayani Excellence Awards of Learners (HEAL) in 2017 at his alma mater, Mashengani Primary School, where three best Grade 7 learners were chosen and awarded certificates and medals for their excellent school work