New student village with 1,088 beds coming next to private South African university in rich Cape Town suburb
RiverGlo Durbanville, a new student village with 1,088 beds, is being developed next to STADIO’s Durbanville campus.
The residence is located next to STADIO’s Durbanville campus in the Groot Phesantekraal area of Cape Town.
The campus opened in the first half of 2026 with 1,250 students, exceeding the group’s opening targets.
It offers contact learning across several fields, including commerce, education, engineering and architecture, information technology, law, fashion, and arts and design.
Qualifications available at the campus include Bachelor of Commerce degrees, Bachelor of Education programmes, engineering qualifications, information technology courses, and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degrees.
The campus also has specialist learning facilities, outdoor green spaces, sports courts, and a large hall for cultural and other campus activities.
The new RiverGlo development will offer direct pedestrian access to the campus, shared apartments, and dedicated study areas and facilities, including a gym, a coffee shop, and laundry facilities.
The first phase is expected to open in 2027, providing 488 beds. A second phase, scheduled for 2028, will add another 600 beds, bringing the development’s total capacity to 1,088 beds.
RiverGlo is designed to provide semi-furnished student accommodation with shared living spaces and facilities for studying and socialising.
Rooms will include a three-quarter bed, mattress protector, bedside table, study desk and chair, study lamp, and blinds.
Shared apartments will have kitchen appliances, including a fridge, microwave and cooking facilities, as well as a dining area and two bathrooms.
Apartments start from R9,950 per month. Electricity will be prepaid, while hot water will be metered. Weekly cleaning is also included in the listed facilities.
The development will include a student hub, dedicated study areas, an entertainment space, a gym, a coffee shop, and laundry facilities. Uncapped Wi-Fi will be available throughout the residence.
Security features include 24-hour security, CCTV monitoring, electric fencing and biometric access control.
One of the development’s most attractive features is that it will give students Direct pedestrian access to STADIO Durbanville.
STADIO expands its in-person presence
The Durbanville campus is the newest STADIO campus to open in South Africa, welcoming its first cohort of students in February 2026.
When the campus was completed, STADIO’s CEO, Dr Stan du Plessis, stressed the importance of private higher education in South Africa.
“We can experiment with new academic models, work closely with industry, and introduce flexibility that traditional universities often can’t,” he said.
“We’re not competing against public universities, we’re complementing them – expanding national capacity and providing choice.”
The flexibility extends to STADIO’s blended in-person and distance-learning model, which allows students who can’t relocate or study full-time to access quality education.
“Durbanville strengthens our contact-learning capacity, but it also anchors a hybrid network that reaches students everywhere,” said Du Plessis.
The new RiverGlo project forms part of STADIO’s broader strategy to expand its contact-learning offering and physical campus network as it works towards obtaining university status.
In its interim results for the six months to June 2026, the group reported a 10% year-on-year increase in total student numbers to 56,171, while revenue grew by 13% to R1.08 billion.
Contact-learning enrolments increased by 15% to 8,082. This group now accounts for 14% of the STADIO’s student population. The remaining 86% studied through distance learning.
By August 2026, STADIO’s total enrolments had reached 59,191, surpassing its pre-listing milestone of 56,000 students.
The group is targeting 80,000 students by 2030 and plans to continue investing in campuses and infrastructure to support this growth.
Renders of RiverGlo Durbanville
