Ballito’s first university

Destiny Life church’s new premises at the old Buco warehouse off Ballito Drive will be the home of their congregation as well as a new university.
Teaming up with Cornerstone University, Destiny Life hopes to have students enrolled and studying at the new premises by July this year.
Cornerstone, based in Cape Town, will provide course material for select degrees. The content will be supplied via the Internet which students can access at the church.
Pete Markgraaff, head pastor at Destiny Life, and his church have a passion for education and they already run an established High school, Destiny Life Academy, which has 80 pupils with numbers steadily climbing every year. Their first set of matrics graduated at the end of last year.
On their website the church states that the school was started in order to “provide an affordable independent Christian education as an alternative to public and other private schools, while ensuring a quality educational experience that will prepare each child for life.”
“Our vision was to start our own university and that is how we heard about Cornerstone. It was kind of divine intervention,” said Markgraaff.
The church met with the university and decided to open up a satellite centre in Ballito.
“It will open doors for youngsters and adults and provide the spark to chase their dreams and passions.”
Markgraaff wants to keep the energy of youngsters in Ballito, which he believes is why university cities seem to thrive.
“It is not about growing the church, we want to make a difference in the community. Cornerstone has real passion and zeal and they believe in what they are doing.”
The church will provide programmes that will add a practical element to the course material.
With Dean Grobler as the student mentor they hope to create a student culture that looks after youngsters.
“We want to find ways to get involved and active in the community. Hopefully it will be degree specific,” he said.
Grobler also believes that students spending time together, whatever they are studying, will inspire and encourage each other.
Brenden Smith, Cornerstone’s deputy principal, believes that students need three crucial components when studying for a degree.
“They need to interact with course content, with their peers and with a mentor, all of which our programme supplies with the help of churches around the country,” said Smith.
Each church plays a crucial role in helping students access course content and providing them with guidance and mentoring.
Applications are open for courses which include Bachelor of Arts, Business, Education, Theology and Music, among others.