Property

New R3.2 billion private Afrikaans ‘university’ is taking shape

Kirsten Minnaar • 28 May 2026

The new R3.2 billion Akademia campus in Pretoria East is quickly taking shape, with construction now well underway.

Developed by Kanton, the Akademia campus is expected to open its doors in 2028 and will accommodate over 5,000 full-time students.

The development spans 220 hectares and comprises a higher education institution, student residences, and facilities.

Valued at R3.2 billion, this is the largest project in the history of the Afrikaans language community. Scheduled for completion by 1 January 2028, phase one alone required a whopping R1.8 billion investment.

This project has steadily been in the works since 2019, but construction only officially started in January 2026. Since then, the developers have made rapid progress on the landmark project.

On 25 May 2026, Kanton’s Property Director, Francois van Vuuren, shared an update on the construction’s progress.

“We are currently busy with phase one of this residence node, which consists of around 750 beds,” Van Vuuren explained.

There are four residences in total – two male and two female residences – which will each house just over 180 students. Eventually, there will be a total of eight residences which will accommodate 1,500 students.

“On the rest of the project, we are currently busy with our service infrastructure running alongside the roads. All our sewerage, water and electrical pipes are currently being installed,” Van Vuuren said.

Akademia is aiming to be as self-reliant as possible. As such, it will also feature its own irrigation dam, the construction of which also recently commenced.

“On our main campus node, we have also made very good progress,” Van Vuuren said. “Most of those buildings are already at ground plus two levels, and we are currently busy pouring the concrete for the first floor.”

Later down the line, the campus will be equipped with a chapel, an experimental farm, multiple laboratories, and sports facilities.

“As far as the sports node is concerned, the major earthworks have been completed. The platforms are ready to receive the sports fields,” he said.

Van Vuuren explained that Kanton is currently working with a specialist sports engineer to design these sports fields.

“By the end of the year, most of our concrete work will be completed, and one will then have a good idea of all the various structures, their heights, scale, and overall size on the property,” he said.

A decade of work coming together

Kanton’s Property Director, Francois van Vuuren

The new campus is being developed to consolidate and expand Akademia’s offerings, following the launch of its first full-time campus model in 2021.

At present, Akademia operates two campuses, four residences, two day houses and an administrative office in Centurion.

Although the university has attracted significant attention in recent years, plans for a large-scale permanent campus have been in the works for close to a decade.

Kanton managing director Henk Schalekamp explained in a recent interview that Akademia realised as early as 2018 that it would eventually require a much larger campus to accommodate future growth.

The land earmarked for the development was identified in 2019, at a stage when Akademia had only around 700 enrolled students. However, the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the acquisition process.

“This was before the pandemic and before we had a residential offering. But we knew this was going to happen at some point. So, we pulled Akademia and said that we are going in this direction, and you must come along,” Schalekamp said.

The property was ultimately purchased in March 2024 after five years of meeting various conditions, securing support from Akademia and working through funding arrangements for the development.

Much of the planning and negotiation process took place behind the scenes, with the project only being publicly announced towards the end of 2024.

The scale of the project requires substantial financial backing, with Kanton initially funding the bulk earthworks from its own balance sheet while broader financing was being secured.

Part of the capital raised for the development came through Solidarity donations, which helped support the construction of phase one.

“By the end of 2025, we had completed the bulk earthworks and had the sod-turning event. There we began to assemble contractors and gave the site over to the main contractor on 12 January,” Schalekamp said.