Govt urges Dunoon residents to partake in tackling overcrowding, housing woes - EWN

The Deputy Minister of Human Settlements has urged Dunoon residents to work with the government to tackle chronic overcrowding and housing challenges in the community.   

Deputy Minister Tandi Mahambehlala made the call during a service delivery imbizo in Dunoon on Wednesday.   

Dunoon remains one of Cape Town's most densely populated areas, with more than 70,000 residents and 36 informal settlements.   

Residents told the imbizo that overcrowding was worsening service delivery problems, including sewage spillages, illegal electricity connections and the growth of informal settlements.   

Mahambehlala said efforts to de-densify the area were being undermined when beneficiaries sold or rented out their government houses and then returned to informal housing.   

"The community of Du Noon must help us demolish the informal settlements. If one gets a house, there must be no informal settlement rebuilt in that space. So that we are able to see the difference in what we are trying to address," she said.   

Mahambehlala said the department was also grappling with a growing housing backlog, made worse by the limited availability of land for development. 

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