Cape Town: The City of Cape Town has announced the initiative to upgrade the Dunoon Site-5 after a massive fire caught the region. Following the incident, Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis and Human Settlements MMC – Councillor Carl Pophaim showed up at the site.
Member of the Mayoral Committee for Human Settlements – Councillor Carl Pophaim issued a media statement and said that the City of Cape Town is ready to proceed with the urgent re-blocking of Dunoon’s Site-5 informal settlements following a devastating fire on Friday, Jan 09, 2026. The contractors are being prevented from carrying out the work by residents. They understand the mistrust which has emerged because of past delays and unfulfilled commitments by the National Department of Human Settlements.
Pophaim stated that they acknowledge the distress experienced by residents and understand the mistrust which has emerged because of past delays and unfulfilled the commitments by the National Department of Human Settlements.
Some residents have already began rebuilding the salvaged materials rather than waiting for formal assistance. The City of Cape Town has made R12 million available for the site to be re-blocked and have contractors on standby, ready to begin with the work immediately.
The major city services are on-site and are ready to go. The City of Cape Town notes the rejection by the affected community for that re-blocking intervention.
Pophaim said that it is important to place on record that the City of Cape Town is ready to respond. Necessary budget has been identified; contractors are on standby and essential services are on site and are ready to begin the work immediately.
He explained the ability of the city to act, that has slowed by the absence of the directive required to enable an emergency housing response from the Minister of Human Settlements. This policy gap is creating delays at a time when residents urgently need assistance.
The city officials have been instructed to step aside temporarily to avoid further conflict. They are not withdrawing from the area. They are ready to work with residents, community leadership and other spheres of government to find a way forward, which restores safe and dignified housing as quickly as possible.
Also, they continue to call on national government to provide the necessary policy clarity to enable emergency interventions. The residents deserve a response which matches the urgency of this disaster.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis also visited the site and joined the city teams on the ground at Dunoon’s Site-5 informal settlement with Councillor Carl Pophaim. Currently, the city staff is giving various forms of support to the affected residents following the devastating fire and impacting hundreds of households on the day of incident.
Lewis stated that this was a terrible fire, which the firefighters have bravely fought to get under control in difficult, windy conditions which also requires aerial water-bombing by using two helicopters.
Eventually the fire was extinguished around 7:00 p.m. Since then, the city teams have been working urgently to help the affected residents. The frontline staff are on the ground and are providing various forms of immediate support by including safety assistance, debris clearing, coordinating interim relief with NPOs and capturing personal details for emergency support.
Mayor Lewis further stated that they are grateful for the care shown in this difficult time by all the staff who have spent long hours reaching out to each and every one of those affected and including the city staff from Human Settlements, Disaster Risk Management (DRM), Fire and Rescue Services and Basic Services.
To this, Councillor Carl Pophaim added that the City of Cape Town has urged the National Department of Human Settlements to act with urgency in releasing reconstruction kits to affected residents as quickly as possible. They have consistently argued that rapid response is critical in fire and flood disasters, that are particularly in high density informal settlements.
As the City of Cape Town continues to advocate for the human settlements disaster mandate and funding to be devolved so that they can cut out the national middle-man and again provide the direct relief, as it was the case until a few years ago.