WATCH: Mbeki wants meeting with Hawks boss over police

Former president Thabo Mbeki said he will request a meeting with Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya over the role of police in fighting crime.

Mbeki was speaking to Lebeya during Unisa’s 150 years celebration in Pretoria, where the Hawks boss was also in attendance.

Watch the Unisa 150 years celebration

Police ranks

Mbeki said he was going to write to Lebeya about the role of the police in fighting crime in the country.

“I also want to discuss an important question in my view of the ranks of the police service. I have an understanding that the police are not soldiers and why they are called generals I don’t know.

“That has to do with the relationship between the police and the citizens. It’s a matter of ranks, not a matter of words. It’s a very, very important matter that has to go with the practice of policing,” said Mbeki.

ALSO READ: Tokyo Sexwale’s White Spiritual Boy Trust claims ‘unsubstantiated’ – Hawks

Hawks successes

Earlier this month, Lebeya briefed the nation to take stock of the milestones the Hawks achieved during the fourth quarter – including arrests, convictions and sentencing.

Lebeya only highlighted 32 cases, which represent 3% of the 985 successful cases of the Hawks.

Education

Meanwhile, Mbeki said everyone is entitled to education regardless of their race and choices in life.

The former president said that despite the challenges facing Unisa, the institution continues to serve all in society.

“I cited to remind ourselves that even when Unisa was born, most of us then were bushmen, kaffirs and niggas. And indeed, we have got calls to celebrate the Unisa birthday because to my knowledge it never excluded from its classrooms any of our citizen, despite the setting into which it was born.

“On the very eve of this celebration, a report on Unisa by an independent assessor entered public domain generating great worries about the future of this university,” said Mbeki.

ALSO READ: Unisa’s 150th anniversary: Historic journey towards accessible education