The City of Cape Town says it’s still waiting for a reply from the National Human Settlements department to enable an emergency housing response in the Site 5 Informal Settlement in Dunoon.
About 600 structures were gutted when a massive shack fire ripped through the area last week.
The city has handed over donated goods to victims of the fire.
Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Carl Pophaim and Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis visited the area and handed out supplies.
Pophaim says,”Since being appointed almost three years ago, I’ve been absolutely obsessed with making sure that the function to deliver emergency housing is divulged back to the city. When we managed it, we responded within 6 to 24 hours to provide material to residents,” says Pophaim.
“We have a situation now where it’s centralised with the national department. It’s run from Pretoria and we have fires that took place year only getting their kits in 2026. It’s very clear that the department doesn’t have the capacity to respond to the needs of the people on the ground around the country,” adds Pophaim .
Related Video | Blaze leaves thousands without shelter in Du Noon informal settlement.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhy6CgTRB3g
