Akademia, the Afrikaans independent higher education institution, is another step closer to the realisation of its new full-time campus in the Western Cape. This after the Council on Higher Education’s (CHE) Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC) gave its conditional approval to the institution’s Paarl Campus Facility. This campus is located at 1 Breda Street, Esterville.  

Regarding the establishment of this facility, Tony van der Merwe, operations manager: Paarl Campus, says that the establishment process will be undertaken in phases and that the necessary building plans are currently serving at the Drakenstein municipality. A tender process for the establishment of the campus has successfully been concluded and it is envisioned that this process will be completed by 1 October 2025. 

In another development, students that are studying via the after-hours distance model and is part of the Paarl Centre will also establish themselves on the new campus premises. 

The new campus facility will look as follows:

• Lecture halls;
• Various co-working spaces;
• Two cafeterias – one indoors and one outside;
• A fully equipped media centre;
• A Sowel As coffee shop
• Die Winkel (for the supply of Akademia branded products);
• Access control; and

• Safe parking.

Akademia will officially launch this new campus facility to the media, the public and prospective students during a grandious function on 15 October.

This is what the Paarl Campus will look like

The campus will commence in January 2026 with 47 full-time staff members. The institution is already in the process of filling positions for the Paarl Campus and it is intended to eventually employ twenty academic staff and 27 departmental staff on site by 2026. It is envisaged that by 2028 more than 100 full-time staff will be employed on the campus. The role of the campus head will be fulfilled Prof. Gawie du Toit.

In terms of the academic programme variety, there will be programmes offered from all five of the institution’s dynamic faculties – as in the case of the Pretoria Campus.

2025 as a highlight year for Akademia

In reaction to the conditional approval of the Paarl Campus Facility Marthinus Visser, managing director of Akademia, says that 2025 represents a big year for the institution. “This year we are working hard to give shape to our dream and sense of calling, namely to be of service to the Afrikaans language and cultural communities,” explains Visser. He adds that the institution is committed to becoming a preferred study home for more than 2 000 full-time Fonties in the Western Cape by 2032, thus helping to ensure the continuation of the Afrikaans university system.