3 September 2026
The deadline for people living in Singabalapha informal settlement along Observatory Main Road to vacate the site is looming but they say they have nowhere to go. Archive photos: Dave Fisher
By court order, occupiers of Singabalapha informal settlement along Main Road, Observatory, must vacate the area by the end of November.
But they say they do not know where to go.
The City of Cape Town had planned to relocate them and also families from Masonwabe to a site in Gugulethu, but the Masonwabe group say the land was promised to them.
The deadline for people living along the Main Road in Observatory to vacate the site is looming, but many of them say they still don’t know where they will go.
In July, residents of Singabalapha informal settlement met with families living at the Masonwabe temporary relocation area in Gugulethu. The City of Cape Town planned to relocate the two groups to a site in Gugulethu. The meeting was meant to unify the two communities, but it quickly descended into chaos.
The Masonwabe families wanted to make it clear that they were not angry with the Singabalapha residents, but with the municipality for trying to move the Singabalapha occupiers to land promised to the Masonwabe residents years ago.
An eviction order granted by the Western Cape High Court sets 30 November as the deadline for the Singabalapha site to be vacated. But the occupiers say they are yet to hear back from the municipality on a new relocation site after the Masonwabe residents rejected the proposal.
The group had previously been offered emergency housing in Delft, but they rejected this as too far away. They were also offered a site at Hanover Park, but residents there were opposed to this.
According to the court order, the Gugulethu project will be developed in phases. The first phase will be temporary relocation structures made of zinc and wood, the second phase will see the construction of 18 three-storey low-income units.
Carl Pophaim, mayco member for human settlements, said the first units will go to people from Gugulethu, followed by the Singabalapha residents.
On the pushback from the Gugulethu community, Pophaim said, “Engagement with the community is ongoing”.
Occupiers of land on Main Road, Observatory, are meant to be relocated by 30 November.
But Gugulethu residents, such as Nombeko Leputhing, say the units must be reserved only for their community.
“Gugulethu already has serious housing challenges,” said Leputhing. “Our communities are struggling with backyarders, overcrowding, hostels and people who have been waiting for housing for many years. It is unfair that the City now wants to give housing opportunities to people not from Gugulethu.”
Tabling a motion on 20 August in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, ANC deputy chief whip Nomi Nkondlo asked, “What criteria informed the decision to relocate this group to Gugulethu rather than other suitable areas or available land?”
She said the City had a long history of relocating communities to temporary accommodation, such as Blikkiesdorp, “without a clear and credible pathway to permanent housing”.
Zamuxolo Gulwa, attorney at Ndifuna Ukwazi Law Centre, said the Singabalapha group had no legal right to choose their relocation site.
“They are at the hands and mercy of the City of Cape Town and the Gugulethu community. This is contrary to the public perception that the Singabalapha residents are stalling these proceedings or are refusing to vacate the site in Observatory.”
“As things stand, with the objections from the Gugulethu community, the residents of Singabalapha have nowhere to go,” said Gulwa.
