First look at Akademia’s planned Paarl campus

Kanton has released the first photos of Vêrgesig, the 105-hectare site at the foot of the Wemmershoek Mountains where private Afrikaans university Akademia plans a permanent Western Cape campus for about 3,000 students. Don’t expect it soon. No opening date has been set, and the Paarl campus is unlikely to open within two to three years. Kanton’s focus for now is Akademia’s biggest project yet, a 6,500-student campus in Pretoria East. About 600 workers are on that site every day, and handover is due in the third quarter of 2027..By Hanno Labuschagne.Property development and investment company Kanton has released photos of the site of private Afrikaans university Akademia’s new full-time campus in the Western Cape.Plans to develop the facility in the province were first announced publicly in May 2024, with a launch date set for 2026.Akademia began accepting full-time students at a temporary campus at 1 Breda Street in Esterville earlier this year.The institution also has two smaller learning centres for part-time students in the province, located in George and Somerset West.Akademia said the Western Cape community, which has a large concentration of first-language Afrikaans speakers, approached the institution to establish the campus.Kanton managing director Henk Schalekamp said the goodwill of the province’s Afrikaans people deeply moved the parties involved in the project.“From the outset, this project testifies to what is possible when communities build a shared future together.”In May 2026, Kanton announced it had secured the Vêrgesig site in Paarl for the permanent full-time university campus, which will eventually accommodate roughly 3,000 students.The 105-hectare piece of land is located near the foot of the Wemmershoek Mountains. It has a topography that Akademia executive director Marthinus Visser said was ideally suited for an integrated campus development.“A waterway flowing into the Berg River provides additional support for the site’s future water needs,” Visster said.“On clear days, the view from Vêrgesig stretches as far as Table Mountain and the Afrikaans Language Museum and Monument.”At that time, Kanton was still busy with the prescribed urban planning processes needed to obtain development rights at the site.Akademia must still announce a planned opening date for the Western Cape campus, although it is unlikely to happen within the next two to three years.That is because Kanton is currently working on Akademia’s most ambitious project to date — it’s Pretoria East campus, which will support up to 6,500 full-time and part-time students.Impressive progress at Pretoria East campus .MyBroadband recently visited the 220-hectare property in Pretoria East and was impressed by the progress made in the nine months since construction went into full swing.The main construction firm for the campus is JC van der Linde and Venter Projects, which was also responsible for the Kanton-developed Soltech technical college campus in Centurion..Read more:.Western Cape continues to lead as best quality of life.Around 600 builders and contractors were reporting to the site daily, a number that is expected to rise to around 1,000 at the peak of construction.Several buildings were nearing completion, with interior walls, plumbing, and electrical installations either finished or well advanced.The most advanced included the men’s and women’s residences, student centre, library, cafeteria, staff offices, administration building, and lecture halls.The campus is expected to be ready for handover to Akademia in the third quarter of 2027, with full occupancy permission by the end of the year.Akademia Paarl campus planned site photos — October 2026.Akademia Pretoria East campus under construction — September 2026.This article was first published by MyBroadband and is republished with permission..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox every morning on weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa's bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here.

First look at Akademia’s planned Paarl campus

Related Stories

Backing Ukraine isn’t charity, it’s self-interest: Lessons from the frontline

Amb. Brent Bozell: The truth about Washington/Pretoria relations

Great Trek 2.0: Gauteng, W Cape absorbing a failing country's problems

No property rights, no growth: Why Pretoria must lose its expropriation case