"Testifies to What's Possible": Private Afrikaans University Gets Site for New Western Cape Campus

• Property firm Kanton released photos of the Vêrgesig site in Paarl secured for Akademia's permanent Western Cape campus
• The 105-hectare property near the Wemmershoek Mountains is expected to eventually accommodate around 3,000 students
• Akademia's Pretoria East campus, its most ambitious project yet, is already under construction with roughly 600 workers on site daily

A private Afrikaans university is taking shape in the Western Cape, with new photos of the planned permanent campus site offering a first glimpse of what is to come.

Property investment company Kanton released images of the Vêrgesig property in Paarl, which it secured in May 2026 for Akademia's full-time Western Cape campus. The 105-hectare site sits near the foot of the Wemmershoek Mountains, and on clear days, the view stretches as far as Table Mountain and the Afrikaans Language Museum and Monument.

Akademia executive director Marthinus Visser described the land's layout as ideally suited for an integrated campus development. He said.

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"A waterway flowing into the Berg River provides additional support for the site's future water needs."

The campus is designed to accommodate approximately 3,000 students once fully developed.

Western Cape community drives the campus push

Plans for an Akademia presence in the Western Cape were first made public in May 2024. The institution said the province's Afrikaans-speaking community actively approached it to establish a campus there, given the large concentration of first-language Afrikaans speakers in the region.

Akademia has since begun welcoming full-time students at a temporary space at 1 Breda Street in Esterville, while two smaller learning centres for part-time students operate in George and Somerset West.

Kanton managing director Henk Schalekamp said the response from the province's Afrikaans community had been deeply moving.

"From the outset, this project testifies to what is possible when communities build a shared future together."

Kanton's website states:

"Afrikaans as a mother tongue is increasingly under pressure at public universities across South Africa. There is a growing need for an excellent higher education institution in Afrikaans such as Akademia."

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Kanton is still working through the urban planning processes required to secure development rights at Vêrgesig, meaning a campus opening is unlikely within the next two to three years.

Pretoria East campus nears completion

While the Western Cape site develops, Akademia's most ambitious undertaking is already well underway in Pretoria East. The 220-hectare campus there is designed to support up to 6,500 full-time and part-time students.

Around 600 builders and contractors are currently reporting to the site each day, with that figure expected to climb to about 1,000 at peak construction. The main construction firm, JC van der Linde and Venter Projects, also built the Kanton-developed Soltech technical college campus in Centurion.

Several buildings are nearing completion, including the men's and women's residences, student centre, library, cafeteria, administration building, and lecture halls. Akademia expects to take handover of the Pretoria East campus in the third quarter of 2027, with full occupancy permission anticipated by the end of that year.

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Source: Briefly News