‘NCOP Exposes Delays and Lack of Accountability in Cape Town Housing Project’

A delegation of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) conducted an oversight visit to Dunoon in Cape Town and was unhappy with the delay of the Killarney Gardens housing project, which has stalled since 2023 and the absence of the City of Cape Town to provide answers.
 
The visit was part of the NCOP’s Local Government Week programme currently taking place from 16 to 19 September 2025. The delegation was led by the Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Mr Les Govender, and comprised permanent and special delegates to the NCOP as well as the South African Local Government Association.
 
The delegation visited Dunoon to see first-hand the challenges facing communities, especially when it comes to the issue of spatial planning, water, sanitation and housing. The Killarney Gardens Project is a transitional residential housing facility aimed at providing short-term, temporary accommodation and social support for individuals and families transitioning from Doornbach, Dunoon and Atlantis Railway Reserve informal settlements. It was initially designed as an integrated and sustainable human settlement project to relieve high densities in Dunoon and surrounding areas but following the Covid-19 outbreak, it was repackaged as a Transitional Residential Area.
 
Outlining the purpose of the oversight, Mr Govender said the NCOP delegation wanted to ascertain why the project has not been completed and try to unlock it for the benefit of the people in the area. “We saw a vacant land that has been serviced in terms of roads and storm-water drainage, but the people that are living in the shacks next to the land are not benefiting from it. We want to ensure that the project is unlocked so that the housing project can go ahead and structures can be built,” he said. 
 
The delegation found that the project is currently dormant, as no work has occurred since the 2023/24 financial year. The budget for the planning, design and site preparation phase, including installation of bulk services, is R39 212 341 of which R23 841 547 (61%) has been spent. The delegation was told that the bulk civil engineering infrastructure and stormwater pond have been installed, while the bulk electrical services are not yet installed to avoid vandalism and theft of copper cables. 
 
The delegation raised several issues in terms of why the project has stalled for such a long time. However, they found that for various contradictory reasons there was no concurrence between the provincial and local spheres of government on issue of land transfer, among other things.
 
The delegation described the discrepancy between the 1 500 houses that were initially planned to be built against the now 480 units as another area of concern. The delegation could not be furnished with proper answers because officials from the City of Cape Town were not present. Members of the delegation were very displeased by this absence. 
 
The delegation also expressed significant concern that the provincial government was not well represented either, rendering the delegation unable to find answers for the problems. “This is why we are saying, from the NCOP side, that it is important for the three spheres of government to work together,” Mr Govender said.
 
The matters emanating from the visit will be discussed further by the NCOP on the last day of the Local Government Week on Friday, 19 September 2025.