Grant Pascoe
The City of Cape Town claims to be a well-run city but its own report tells a very different story. Council Agenda Item C54/07/25, the Human Settlements third quarter performance report for 2024/25, exposes a housing system in crisis under the political leadership of Mayco Member Carl Pophaim and the administrative oversight of Executive Director Nolwandle Gqiba.
City Not Delivering on Housing Promises
The City promised to deliver 850 formal serviced housing sites. Only 569 were completed. The contractor responsible for the Macassar project failed to finish the work and the City is now replacing them. But the damage is done. The City admits the full-year target will not be met. Communities in desperate need of land and housing are once again left behind.
On title deeds the City aimed to register 2100 but only managed 1764. A new Section 137 certificate was introduced at the start of the financial year but the City failed to prepare. The result is a major delay in transfers and families who have waited for years are still without legal ownership of their homes.
The informal settlements programme has collapsed. Of the 990 sites that were meant to be serviced only 221 were completed. That is less than a quarter of the target. The City blames community unrest but ignores the real problem which is poor planning slow procurement and weak community engagement.
Underspend Capital Budget
The capital budget was underspent. Only 52.9 percent of the funds allocated to housing were used by the end of March. Millions were left untouched while projects stalled. Contractors were delayed land acquisition dragged on and informal structures were not removed in time. These are not new problems but they remain unsolved.
ALSO READ: Persistent Spatial Inequality in Cape Town Deeply Unsettling
The City’s internal governance is broken. In the Housing Development unit not one internal audit recommendation was acted on. That means no accountability no oversight and no progress. It is a clear sign of leadership failure.
Public Housing Maintenance Crisis
Maintenance in public housing is in crisis. The City failed to meet its 90 percent complaints response target and only achieved 78.9 percent. But that number hides the truth. Depots have no working vehicles. Staff have no plumbing supplies. Broken staircases go unrepaired. Tenants live in unsafe buildings and the City cannot respond because it has no materials and no plan. Some depots have no transport to attend to complaints and no tools to do the work even if they arrive. SCM stores have no stock and delays are now normal. The system is falling apart.
Carl Pophaim and Executive Director Nolwandle Gqiba are at the centre of this failure. The facts are in their own report. The City is not well-run. Housing delivery is not working. Services are broken. Complaints are ignored. Money is not spent. Promises are not kept.
City Not Working for the Poor
This is no longer about underperformance. It is about negligence. People are living in broken homes while budgets sit unused and senior officials refuse to take responsibility.
Carl Pophaim and Nolwandle Gqiba must be fired. They have failed the residents of Cape Town and should no longer be trusted to lead the Human Settlements Directorate.
Item C54/07/25 makes one thing clear. Cape Town is not delivering on its housing mandate. The City is not working for the poor. The slogans are lies. The leadership has failed. And the time for change is now.
