Construction on the newest campus for the private Afrikaans higher education institution, Akademia, has officially started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first phase of the construction started this week at the group\u2019s site in Mooiplaats, marking the start of a R1.8 billion build phase that will focus on lecture halls and academic facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The construction phase is expected to run from January 2026 to December 2027<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other infrastructure highlights in this phase include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project is the largest of its kind in the history of Afrikaans-language and cultural communities in higher education and carries an estimated investment value of over R3 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project is being co-developed by the Solidarity Movement, in partnership with Kanton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This new campus development was first announced in August 2024, and mass earthworks took place in July 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The sod-turning ceremony, representing the official launch of the project, took place in November 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solidarity chief executive officer and Akademia director Dirk Hermann shared a flyover of the site, noting that the groundwork is ready for construction to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Thank you to every Solidarity member who contributed over so many years to build Academia and let students study,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The new Akademia campus is the next step in the education group\u2019s expansion in South Africa, after opening its latest full-time campus in Paarl in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The institution was founded in 2012, and over the past thirteen years, has grown to five faculties (undergraduate and postgraduate), with more than 3,800 students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The expansion of Akademia comes as the South African government moves to enable private universities to be registered in South Africa for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to previous regulations in the tertiary education space, only public institutions could be classified as universities, with private players in the space being called higher education institutions or similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
University soon by name<\/h2>\n\n\n\n