Dunoon, Cape Town


Dunoon is a small township situated in the Western Cape, South Africa. The first erf for Dunoon was surveyed in 1996. As the formal housing was built, shacks mushroomed.
It is near the Killarney Motor Racing Complex. Its neighbouring counterpart is Joe Slovo Park. It is a very shanty township with no police station; the nearest one is in Milnerton. In 2011 the population of Dunoon was 31 133. The number of households in Dunoon in 2011 was 11 496.
Dunoon popular dancers
The main form of transport for Dunoon residents is minibus taxis. The MyCity bus service has recently opened a bus station to serve Dunoon.
On the opposite side of Potsdam Road from Dunoon is an informal settlement called Site 5. Site 5 consists of a group of shacks and dwellers use mobile toilets.
Dunoon dancers Amaqobokazana Amaqhawoxolo
Dunoon has also been known for its participation in Xenophobia demonstrations.

Schooling and Education

It has three schools: Dunoon Primary School, Sophakama Primary, silverleaf primary and Inkwenkwezi High school
It has one high school and Three primary school.

Health services

The City of Cape Town opened a day hospital that has been operating since 2016. The City has officially opened a temporary clinic in Dunoon, in conjunction with the Western Cape Provincial Government, in order to provide better primary healthcare services to residents in the area.
The clinic offers services such as reproductive health advice, HIV counselling and testing, TB treatment and screening, and anti-retroviral treatment amongst others.

Developmental plan for Services, Upliftment and Amenities

For matters concerning Dunoon and its upliftment, City of Cape Town is the planning authority.
This Department has been working to resolve the pedestrian problem on the N7 in the DuNoon Environs. The toilets and water standpipes have been removed from the road reserve and the fence is repaired on regular basis to discourage people entering the N7 road reserve. Safety matters and the dangers of crossing the N7 have been discussed with the DuNoon community.
No foot bridges have been planned as the people tend to select the shortest route regardless of danger.
The proposal to offer a safe crossing alternative involves the lifting the N7 by approximately 2.0 metres over a section of the N7 to the north of Richwood, between the future Blaauwberg Road and Potsdam Interchanges, so that 2 number street links can be constructed at ground level to link the properties abutting the N7,. The design process is under way but it will take approximately 12 months before construction can commence.
The current interim safety measure involves the upgrading of the existing Agricultural Underpass, as an alternative N7 crossing for the DuNoon community. This has been a long process, as it requires the relocation of houses as well as the removal of people living in the Agricultural Underpass before the implementation can commence. This upgrade will be implemented in February 2018 and will be completed in 6 weeks. It is hoped that the Agricultural Underpass will be used by the DuNoon community in preference to running across the N7 in the interim.
Despite this, it is acknowledged that it is extremely difficult to prevent people, who are aware on the dangers yet choose to, from running across the N7.

Protest Action

troops deployed on the Cape Flats arrived in DuNoon in Cape Town on Tuesday, 1 October 2019, to carry out "targeted operations" against crime in the area - where disgruntled taxi operators have been leading violent protests for days.
Protests in the area, and the nearby Joe Slovo Park, have simmered for days with cars being stoned, roads barricaded, bus stations targeted and at least one bus and a truck set on fire.
The protest is the result of a standoff between some taxi bosses and the city council, which refuses to budge on demands for allocated transport routes and the scrapping of fines.
Calm returned to the township of DuNoon after a combined force of army and various police units conducted a search and seizure operation. A large column of SANDF armoured personnel carriers, ambulances and military police lined up in a MyCiti bus lane next to two burnt-out bus stations.

COVID-19 de-densification

The Western Cape Human Settlements Department has started talking to residents of Dunoon, 23 APRIL 2020, about plans to de-densify the area to help curb the spread of COVID-19.
The department said that its Rapid Informal Settlement Support and Upgrade Programme would assist with social distancing.
To make the de-densification work, the provincial government will provide temporary accommodation for 10,000 residents.

‘Sabotage of the worst possible kind’

The City of Cape Town has been rocked by a violent surge of arson attacks, 21 June 2020, on MyCiTi bus infrastructure, putting further strain on an already-embattled public transport system.
As South Africa attempts to revive its economy, following a prolonged period of lockdown, the public transport system has been hit by a wave of protest and destruction.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member of Transport, Felicity Purchase, condemned the attacks which have decimated public transport infrastructure in Milnerton and Dunoon. Purchase confirmed that a weekend of attacks on Cape Town buses have cost the city in excess of R8 million. Two MyCiTi buses were completely gutted by flames. The Omuramba station in Racecourse Road, Montague Gardens was also set alight.
Commenting on the volatility in the area, which has since been swarmed by law enforcement agencies, Purchase condemned the destruction of public infrastructure, saying:
“This weekend marks one of the worst in the 10-year history of the MyCiTi service with violent attacks on assets and infrastructure in the Milnerton and Dunoon areas. This is nothing less but sabotage of the worst possible kind, and in a time of crisis when COVID-19 is challenging our resolve like never before.”
Ongoing unrest in Dunoon, ostensibly linked to a lack of service delivery and contentious land grabs, has plagued the area the past year. Earlier this month, a ward councillor — who spoke out against a criminal syndicate that was allegedly responsible for selling plots of land — was the subject of an arson attack. According to security guards at the scene, petrol bombs rained down on the councillor’s office on Youth Day.
Dunoon ward councillor Lubabalo Makeleni said: "The people that are burning the offices are the same people that are burning the drugs but I've not yet met them. I still want to find out where they want to put up a shack so that we can go to them and talk to them."
Western Cape South African Police Service spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed that the area had been inundated by acts of violence and arson. Van Wyk noted:
“Sporadic incidents of public violence are currently taking place on Potsdam and N7 due to a dispute of allocation of housing.”