OUDTSHOORN NEWS - Tomorrow, 1 September, Cango Wildlife will officially open its new Africa Skills Cango Academy site to an invite-only audience of civic and business leaders.
Four days later, on 5 September, the doors open to the public for a community open day at 291 Adderley Street. Locals can walk through the new facility and meet the people running it.
“The open day on 5 September lets Oudtshoorn see for itself what this campus is building towards,” Dr Garrett Eriksen, academic director of Cango Academy, said. “We wanted the community walking through those doors early, because this is ultimately their skills pipeline as much as it is ours.”
What Africa Skills brings to the table
The first course through the door will be Plumbing Hand, an NQF level 3 qualification delivered by Africa Skills Training and Management over 61 days, combining theory, practical training and workplace exposure, with a Grade Nine minimum entry requirement. Intake begins 7 September.
Further academy programmes are expected, such as handyman work, residential repairs, tourism, agriculture and retail. Africa Skills brings the accreditation and the vocational infrastructure.
Why Cango, and why now
Cango Wildlife’s Cango Academy already runs a growing work-integrated learning programme with Nelson Mandela University and the NewBridge Graduate Institute, placing conservation and nature management students directly into the facility’s daily operations and its private reserve. The new campus building extends that same ethos: that skills are best taught close to where they will actually be used, building into an entirely new set of trades.
Beyond the Africa Skills programmes, Cango Academy is developing its own course offerings, combining online learning with accredited practical training at Cango Wildlife itself, aimed at careers in conservation, sustainability, technology, tourism and animal care. Those courses are expected to launch in 2027.
“Together, we’re building something that can grow well beyond a single trade, into a genuine pathway for this town. Innovation is what drives socio-economic development, and I believe the Garden Route can be South Africa’s Silicon Valley.” says Douglas Eriksen, CEO of Cango Wildlife.
Residents are invited to see the campus for themselves at the community open day on 5 September.
The campus is open. Oudtshoorn’s next generation of tradespeople, conservationists and hospitality professionals starts walking through its doors this September.
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