South Africa

South Africa’s new R3.2 billion Afrikaans university campus one step closer

Shaun Jacobs • 18 November 2025

Construction is set to begin on South Africa’s newest private Afrikaans university campus in Pretoria, with the official building phase beginning in January 2026.

Ground has been broken on the site in Pretoria East, where a new R3.2 billion campus for over 6,000 students is set to be built.

The project, built by the Solidarity Movement in partnership with Kanton, is one of the largest private sector capital expenditure projects in South Africa in recent years.

Kanton is set to host its sod-turning ceremony at the campus soon, with this event marking the start of the construction phase, which is set to commence in January 2026.

The organisation said it also represents a clear step towards the creation of a world-class academic home for Afrikaans higher education in the east of Pretoria.

This campus will serve as an academic home for approximately 5,000 undergraduate and 1,500 postgraduate students when completed.

The development includes modern lecture halls, multiple laboratories, research spaces, a fully-equipped library, and eight residences.

A central student hub, dining facilities, a classical chapel, and a 2,000-seat auditorium will further add to the campus’ facilities.

In addition, extensive indoor and outdoor sports facilities are being designed, while an experimental farm will support the institution’s future offerings in the natural and agricultural sciences.

If the construction phase goes according to plan, the university campus will be completed in time for first-year students to register in 2028.

The scale of the campus is immense, with it set to be as unreliant on the national energy and water distribution grids as possible.

Kanton said that 23 kilometres of underground pipes will be laid, with over 19 million litres of water storage space for drinking water, fire safety, and irrigation.

It is estimated that the construction of the site will take 7.1 million bricks and 110,000 square metres of plaster. Over 40 kilometres of optical fibre cabling will be laid around the site.

The site is currently being prepared for construction, with Kanton sharing a video detailing the latest developments on the site.

Akademia’s expansion

The development of the campus is a significant step for Akademia, which has been using interim solutions since 2012 to accommodate its students.

In 2021, it launched its first full-time campus model, with it currently having two Akademia campuses, four residences, two day houses, and an administrative office in Centurion.

The new campus will enable Akademia to consolidate some of its offerings and grow further, while giving students a fixed address to experience an active student life.

Apart from academic infrastructure, the development will include various restaurants and cafes, with extensive rugby, cricket, tennis, athletics, and swimming facilities.

“Phase one of the project will amount to approximately R1.8 billion and will be completed on 1 January 2028, while the total development cost will be more than R3 billion,” Kanton managing director Henk Schalekamp said.

Kanton serves as a vehicle for financing the development of the new Akademia campus. Kanton approached institutions and wealthy individuals to finance the initial investment.

When a critical amount of funds is raised for the project to continue, an opportunity will be offered to the community to get involved through smaller investments.

Kanton has a track record of delivering projects on time and within budget, as demonstrated by their work on Solidarity’s Sol-Tech technical college campus in Centurion.

Below is a timeline of the Akademia campus since its inception in 2017 –

Identify land: January 2017 – December 2019
Development due diligence: January 2020 – August 2020
Obtain development rights: January 2021 – February 2024
Purchase of land for R55 million: May 2024
Concept development: January 2024 – December 2024
Capital raising and financing: November 2024 – December 2025
Phase 1 – Mass earthworks: June 2025 – December 2025
Phase 1 – Construction: January 2026 – December 2027
Phase 2 – Construction: January 2028 – December 2029

“This campus is the fruit of a partnership between culture and capital. It points the way forward,” Schalekamp said.

“We are not just building a campus, we are building living spaces for Afrikaans – spaces where students can flourish, where communities can come together and where a language takes its rightful place, all while creating wealth for our investors.”