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🏗️ R3.2 Billion Private University Development Underway in Pretoria East One of the largest private investments currently under construction in South Africa is not a mall, an office tower, or a residential estate… but a university. A brand-new private Afrikaans university campus, valued at R3.2 billion, is being developed in Pretoria East for Akademia, a privately owned Afrikaans Christian higher-education institution. The project is being brought to life by the real estate development company Kanton. Akademia already operates two campuses, four residences, two-day houses, and a head office in Centurion. Here’s what the new campus will include: • Restaurants, cafés, a student centre, and office blocks • Lecture halls, laboratories, an auditorium, research facilities, a chapel, and a library • Staff housing plus student accommodation for 5000 undergraduates and 1500 postgraduates (across four female and four male residences) • Full sporting facilities: rugby, cricket, athletics, tennis, netball, swimming, and indoor sports • An experiential farm to support natural sciences and agricultural studies The campus is expected to be completed by early 2028, and Akademia has also announced plans to establish a satellite campus in Paarl, Western Cape. This development is notable because of its scale and scope, but also because it highlights a growing trend: private investment stepping into spaces traditionally dominated by public institutions. South Africa’s higher education system faces immense pressures from overcrowding to funding challenges. The private university sector is slowly but surely booming. Should we encourage the boom, or should education remain primarily a public sector responsibility?