MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 17th APRIL 2024

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 17 APRIL 2024 at 18H30

PRESENT:   Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Floh Thiele (La Carmague); Lindi Metz (Killarney Park); Busi Mrara (Brenthurst Court); Yasirah Madhi (Mediterranean); Zain Bulbulia (St John’s Wood), Sanjay Lala (Sloan Square).

1. WELCOME

• Wayne opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Councillor Eleanor Huggett.

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT

• We will try to keep the meeting to one hour if possible.

4. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting have been circulated to all attendees, and have been approved by them. The details thereof were incorporated into the monthly newsletter.

5.  STATUS OF OUR SUBURB, AND LIST OF ISSUES REQUIRING ACTION

• 26 buildings have joined the NKRA for the year so far, about 47% of all the sectional title buildings in the area. This is a good start, and will provide enough funding to do some value-adding projects.
• Street and pavement repairs: The Killarney Mall has fixed up the pavement in 4^th Avenue at the traffic circle, and planted low-maintenance plants for us. They are also providing a sweeper at the illegal taxi rank to help manage the litter, they are looking after the park, and they have promised they will put more security at the illegal taxi rank. It was noted that the threat of crime deters shoppers from walking to the Mall, so it is in everyone’s interest to improve security on the pavements.
• The municipality is promising to fix the crash-barriers at the corner of Oxford Road and Riviera Road, but they have not given time-frames for this.
• We are maintaining a register of all municipal issues requiring repair. So far we include the broken water meter in Riviera Road which was repaired but is leaking again, the water pipe at the corner of Annerley Road and Federation Road which was repaired but is leaking again, the damaged pavement on the 4^th Avenue bridge where a pipe was repaired but the pavement was never resurfaced, a trench which was dug across Riviera Road at the intersection with Killarney Avenue which was never resurfaced, and a pothole in Newtown Road at the intersection with 9^th Street. We will also continue to report these issues on the Discovery Pothole App.
• Problems were reported of drinking and littering in the park. We have informed Vision Tactical to discuss this with Eric the park guard.
• Dead pavement trees: The huge tree stump at the corner of Annerley Road and 7^th Street is a safety hazard, in that it blocks vision for drivers approaching that intersection. This has been reported many times, to no avail. We will seek quotes for removing this tree stump ourselves.
• Repainting street names on kerbs: It was agreed to undertake this project again. Charles will seek quotes from painters.
• The squatter problem on the motorway embankments: Many of these squatters are reportedly the trolley-recyclers, who want to stay close to their source of revenue, and who need to guard their accumulated material while they wait for it to be collected. We are following this up with the recyclers’ association.
• Safety issues in Oxford Road: this dangerous intersection at the corner of Riviera Road, is currently being made even more unsafe by an illegal taxi checkpoint – numerous cars belonging to the taxi associations are stopping taxis and even cars, to check for taxi affiliations and route permits. This may be part of the on-going taxi route disputes. Scholars from Saxonwold Primary School have been warned about walking across Oxford Road at that point. This has been reported repeatedly but the JMPD and the SAPS are doing nothing. Floh will use the CPF meetings to raise the issue strongly.
• The on-going risks of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and cat burglars: The CPF has been told that the police will be prioritising the elections for the next two months, so the police presence in our area will be reduced for a while. Vision Tactical Security has some of their marked cars circulating in the trouble spots to provide some deterrence for us. We thank Vision Tactical Security for this valuable service.
• Killarney Mall refurbishment progress: The owner of the Killarney Mall has informed us that the planning process for the refurbishment is nearing completion, but there is as yet no firm date for finalisation. They continue to assure us that the taxi facility will be part of those plans, but no details have yet been decided upon.
• Illegal hawkers and drinking on pavements: Private security have raided the drug-sellers in 1^st Street, in support of Gauteng Province cops. A number of arrests were made. We are still looking at getting more security cameras in that vicinity. To begin with we need to get a camera on the hawker of vegetables in 1^st Street, at the corner of 2^nd Avenue, outside Gleneagles. Residents have reported seeing alcohol around this hawker.
• We will ask the Mall to put extra cameras on their building, to cover the taxi area and its drug sellers as well. Vision Tactical Security have developed a security camera system which can communicate the footage to their control centre by WiFi. They will charge R10,000 apiece to install pavement cameras in Killarney. They are also able to identify stolen car number plates. More details about costing is required, but the idea sounds perfect. It was suggested to ask for a camera to be installed at each of the three intersections in 1^st Street.

• NEW ISSUES
• Something needs to be done about the delivery scooters and motor-bikes, which often drive along our one-way roads in the wrong direction. This is an obvious safety hazard.
• The public library might be relocated elsewhere inside the Mall, so we have been asked to wait a while longer before we attempt any interior renovations. However we can meanwhile undertake fundraising on behalf of the library.
• The pavements in many places in Killarney are unfit for wheelchair-users. We will try to address this in our pavement repair project, as best our finances permit.
• It was suggested to have regular neighbourhood clean-up marches, where large groups of residents assist by clearing litter for a morning in various problem locations.

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The meeting was closed at 19h37, with thanks to all who participated.

Our next meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 15 MAY 2024 AT 18H30

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PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

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City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911

SAPS patrol van – 071 675 6001

If you get no response from the patrol van, please call 10111

Councillor Huggett – by SMS or WhatsApp – 071 785 8068

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342

JMPD Control Room – 011 758 9620

JMPD number to report Homeless People camping in the vicinity – 011 490 1538

JMPD number to report Illegal Dumping – 011 490 1684

JMPD number to report Noise Pollution – 011 718 9684

JMPD number to report Illegal Advertising – 011 490 1547

JMPD number to report Illegal Trading – 011 490 1744

JMPD number to report other By-Law issues – 011 490 1684