South Africa to welcome new private university by 2026

Located in Durbanville, in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, the new campus plans to offer schools in education, IT, law, media and design, commerce, architecture, and engineering, with a planned capacity of between 4,000 and 5,000 contact learning students.

The campus will officially welcome students in the 2026 academic year.

Broadening access to higher education

Chris Vorster, CEO at Stadio, explains that developing the new campus is part of the group’s strategy.

“Our vision is to broaden access to higher education in South Africa, with a goal of accommodating 100,000 students in time, 80% of whom will be distance learning students and 20% contact learning students,” he says.

“This means we need to accommodate 20,000 contact learning students, and the Durbanville campus, along with our other campus strategies, will provide us with sufficient capacity to achieve this. Broadening access to tertiary education involves much more than merely creating spaces for more students; it’s about offering alternative pathways into tertiary education.”

Stadio’s strategy is to rather invest in a few comprehensive campuses as opposed to having various small campuses. In this regard, the Durbanville campus will offer higher certificate qualifications as well as undergraduate degrees and post-graduate programmes.

Vorster says the new campus will help to underpin Stadio’s national footprint by creating a private tertiary education hub that rivals the Western Cape province’s four public universities.

“There is huge demand for higher education in the province and just not enough tertiary institution supply,” he says.

“Our new campus will tap into the rapidly growing economy in the northern suburbs, including the planned Cape Winelands Airport, and create job opportunities, enable development in this new hub, as well as offer an alternative to commuting to one of the public universities in the region.”

Comprehensive and community-focused

The campus, envisioned to be 13,000m2 of buildings at completion, will be launched in phases, starting in mid-2025 with the access points, roads, first academic blocks, offices, lecture halls and parking facilities.

In February 2026, a rugby field complying with the International Rugby Board’s Artificial Rugby Turf specifications will follow. This field will be suitable for international rugby games.

Vorster adds that the campus will benefit the entire Stadio community, which comprises students, staff and investors.

“For students, we’re offering a variety of qualifications, including higher certificates as bridging courses to degrees for those who passed Matric without university exemption,” he explains.

“Those who choose to do their postgraduate studies with us automatically become shareholders through our Stadio Khulisa Student Share Scheme upon graduation. Additionally, students in the area will save on transport by not having to travel to other institutions in Stellenbosch or Cape Town.”

For staff, there will be new employment opportunities created, but Vorster adds that the institution has growth structures in place that allow for professional development.

All permanent staff employed by Stadio for more than a year and who are not active participants in Stadio’s long-term incentive scheme qualify for the Stadio Staff Phantom Share Scheme. This scheme pays returns aligned with Stadio’s annual declared dividend.

“As our student numbers grow at the Durbanville campus, our shareholders will ultimately benefit from this investment,” adds Vorster.

Campus life

The Stadio Durbanville site development plan has been designed by BPAS Architects and attention has been given to ensuring the campus will not only be functional but attractive and sustainable too.

“For instance, we have allowed for free flow of pedestrian traffic between the buildings while ensuring there is minimal vehicle traffic. We have also implemented measures like rainwater harvesting and waterwise landscaping across the entire site,” Vorster explains.

Stadio is in discussions with developers to ensure a range of student accommodation options and other facilities are available. This includes, for example, an underpass built between the Stadio campus and Curro Durbanville, allowing for the campus’ sports facilities to be shared.

“Apart from investing in sports facilities, such as our rugby field and multi-sport courts, we are building relationships with sports clubs in the area to offer students opportunities to compete at competitive levels.”

Vorster concludes that Stadio Durbanville’s comprehensive campus will be equipped to offer a full student experience, on par with any other higher education institution in the country.