Dunoon residents say Cape Town's Annandale Farm housing plans leave them out
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Cape Town has released the nearly 72-hectare Annandale Farm site along the N7, valued at about R256 million, for affordable housing through public-private partnerships, but Dunoon residents who waited decades for homes say the plans are unlikely to serve them.
Residents of Dunoon in Cape Town say their hopes of receiving subsidised homes have been dashed after the City released the Annandale Farm site for development through public-private partnerships. Sinethemba Matomela, a former chairperson of the Dunoon branch of the South African National Civic Organisation, says he first registered for housing in 1996 and resubmitted his application three times since, most recently in 2004, but has never received a subsidised home. He lives with his family in the New Rest informal settlement and says all four of his children were born in a shack.
In 2018, then mayor Patricia De Lille told residents at the Dunoon municipal hall that the Annandale Farm land would be used for affordable housing for them. On 6 August 2026, the municipality announced it was releasing the nearly 72-hectare site along the N7, valued at approximately R256 million, for affordable housing opportunities through public-private partnerships. The City has completed preliminary feasibility assessments and has invited developers to submit proposals by 21 October.
The municipality has proposed a mixed-income neighbourhood with affordable housing, residential development, transport infrastructure, community services, educational facilities and commercial and retail space, with housing subject to affordability along with other criteria. According to a City statement, the development will target households earning between R3,500 and R34,400 a month, and it is yet to be determined whether the homes will offer rent-to-buy options.
Ward 104 councillor Bulelwa Mayende, elected in a by-election in March, said she inherited a ward where about two-thirds of households live in informal structures, and that the municipality has a list of more than 1,700 housing applicants in Dunoon. “The land is directly opposite Dunoon and was bought by the City in 2017 with public money for one clear purpose: to relieve overcrowding in Dunoon,” she said, adding that the poorest residents “will watch homes they believed were meant for their community being built for people who can afford them”.
GOOD party secretary-general Brett Herron, who was the mayco member for urban development in 2017 when the City announced the Annandale purchase, questioned the decision to release the property to developers, saying the proposal is unlikely to benefit everyone struggling with housing in Dunoon. Cape Town mayco member for human settlements Carl Pophaim disputed that the land was bought specifically for Dunoon residents, saying it “was purchased to be developed as mixed-use residential” and was never intended as Breaking New Ground housing for people earning under R3,500. He encouraged Dunoon residents who meet the criteria to apply.