The registration of residents affected by the fire that tore through Site 5 in Dunoon is currently underway, as authorities work to determine the full impact of the incident.

According to the City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre spokesperson, Charlotte Powell, the scale of the fire means it will take time to establish the exact number of structures destroyed and people displaced.

Operations on site are being coordinated through a mobile Joint Operations Centre, while Gift of the Givers continues to provide immediate humanitarian assistance to affected families.

Efforts to clear the fire site have also begun, although some residents have already started rebuilding their structures. A City building inspector is on site to assess the integrity of the perimeter wall and nearby formal dwellings in the affected area.

Once all affected residents have been registered and the impact assessment is complete, the lists will be submitted to SASSA, the Provincial Department of Social Development and the National Department of Human Settlements for additional relief and support.

How to Help

Members of the public who wish to assist can drop off donations at the following fire stations, which are open 24 hours a day:

Goodwood, Roeland Street, Lakeside, Constantia, Hout Bay, Strand, Wynberg and Milnerton.

Donations of non-perishable food items, personal hygiene products (such as soap, toothpaste, face cloths and sanitary towels), nappies, baby formula, as well as blankets and bedding are especially needed.

Firefighters were battling to extinguish a devastating fire in the Dunoon informal settlement on Friday afternoon, amid attacks from some members of the community, which necessitated Public Order Police being called in to quell tensions.

The City’s Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 10:25 to structures alight in Site 5 of the township. Numerous resources responded, with operations being coordinated by an Incident Management Team Type 4, which indicates a local, smaller-scale emergency response unit.

Helicopters were also brought in to waterbomb the flames, fanned by strong southeasterly winds.

During the course of the afternoon, public order policing resources were called in to assist as firefighters were being assaulted by members of the community.

One firefighter was also taken to a nearby medical facility for treatment for heat exhaustion.

Fire and Rescue services spokesperson Jermaine Carelse says the extent of the fire, as well as further injuries, will be determined and confirmed once a formal assessment has been completed.

The City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre has established an on-site Joint Operations Centre to lead recovery efforts.

Spokesperson Charlotte Powell says staff are waiting for the all clear from the Fire and Rescue Service, so that a formal assessment can get underway.

Other City services are on standby to assist, as well as SASSA, the Provincial Department of Social Development and the National Department of Human Settlements.

Donation drop-off points have been set up at the following fire stations: Goodwood, Roeland Street, Lakeside, Constantia, Hout Bay, Strand, Wynberg and Milnerton.

Contributions of non-perishable foodstuffs, personal hygiene items (soap, toothpaste, face cloths, sanitary towels), nappies and baby formula, as well as blankets/bedding are welcome.

Gift of the Givers teams, currently stretched across the Western Cape, with deployments in the Overstrand Municipality, Mossel Bay, and Kouga in the Eastern Cape, will render assistance in Dunoon as soon as the site is declared safe.

The Western Cape Education Department says it is ready for the start of the 2026 school year, but late applications continue to pose a challenge.

As educators return to schools on Monday, and learners start on Wednesday, the WCED says more than 7,500 learners are still awaiting placement in either Grades R, 1 or 8.

As of 7 January 2026, the WCED has successfully placed 180, 960 (96%) of learners for whom applications were received.

But late applications are still streaming in. Since 1 November 2025, the WCED has received 10, 666 late applications, despite extensive public communication and advocacy encouraging parents to apply on time.

The WCED’s Bronagh Hammons says late applications create considerable challenges for the Department, including the disruption of planning, resource allocation, and staffing.

The 7,500 learners who are still awaiting placement can only be assisted when schools reopen, which further delays placement.

“With schools reopening for staff on Monday, we will engage more extensively with principals and management teams to identify additional spaces. Further movement within the system is expected as schools finalise promotion, progression, and enrollment lists, which often create additional capacity.”

In addition, the WCED will conduct its 10-day snap survey once schools have been open for ten days. This survey provides accurate data on learner numbers in each grade, allowing the system to settle before reporting.

Hammond says this information is critical for determining where additional resources—such as furniture and equipment—are needed and where further placement opportunities may exist.

The WCED has built 175 new classrooms through the building of new schools and the expansion of existing schools. This too will contribute towards the placement of learners.

“We understand that this is a stressful and anxious period for parents who are waiting for a place, and we are asking parents to work with us as we try to accommodate their children as soon as possible.”

Parents who have not yet applied for the 2026 school year are urged to do so immediately at their education district office.

Six teenagers are due in court soon after they were arrested on Thursday, 8 January, for allegedly stoning a vehicle on the N2 near Cape Town International Airport earlier this week.

According to the police, the incident happened on the N2 opposite the logistics company DSV’s premises on Tuesday.

Captain FC van Wyk says a resident of Stellenbosch had visitors from Wales, and the resident was on the way to drop them off at the airport, when the vehicle they were travelling in was stoned.

The matter was then reported to SAPS at Cape Town International Airport.

The incident was captured on CCTV, and Nyanga SAPS was informed about the incident.

In the footage, six young boys could be seen stoning the car. SAPS members were tasked to look for the suspects in Crossroads.

Yesterday morning, Nyanga SAPS members managed to arrest all six boys, who are all aged 14.

They were still dressed in the same clothes in which the crime was committed.

Crime incidents along the Airport corridor, the so-called ‘hell-run’, have long been a concern.

Also on Thursday, Cape Town Traffic Officers arrested a suspect for attempted hijacking and attempted robbery near the N2.

A motorist stopped a traffic officer on the N2 and advised that she had been threatened at gunpoint by an unknown suspect on the Airport Approach slip road onto the N2 outbound.

Officers responded to the location, and on arrival, saw a suspect running on foot towards Montana, and scaling a wall.

They gave chase and tracked down the suspect and he was detained at Bishop Lavis SAPS.

Law enforcement was recently boosted along the N2, R300 and Jakes Gerwel Drive, but officials emphasise officers can’t patrol every single area of concern at all times.

Further details are also set to be released later this year about the City of Cape Town’s proposed R180 million project to build a physical barrier along sections of the N2 highway, to combat violent crimes like smash-and-grabs, stone-throwing, and robberies.

The dangers of travelling on certain routes to and from the airport came under scrutiny in early December, when former teacher Karin van Aardt was brutally killed by an assailant on Jakes Gerwel Drive in a smash-and-grab incident.

Three accused in the case withdrew their bail application, and they will be back in court on 26 February.