NKRA Communique – January 2024

Hi everyone

We held our January NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 17 January 2024. The key issues arising from that meeting are included in this newsletter. Our next NKRA public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 21 February 2024. All owners and residents of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to join in. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated closer to that date.

Initial construction has begun on the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Centre in North Road, Riviera. Some of the original houses have already been demolished. The finished structures will apparently look like this rendering, which is displayed on the website of the architects, Adjaye Associates, see https://www.adjaye.com/work/thabo-mbeki-presidential-library/. They also have a great “fly-through animation” at their website, which you can also see on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmH3klgT18U.

Once completed, the Centre is intended to provide “a space of excellence, learning, research, discourse and cultural exchange predicated on the African perspective.” The Centre will eventually incorporate, inter alia, a museum, a temporary exhibition space, a research centre, an auditorium, a women’s empowerment centre, a reading room, a digital experience space, seminar rooms, an archive centre and a shop and cafeteria. The archive centre will act as a repository for the papers, artifacts and key documents of President Mbeki as well as those of other significant African historical figures.

Squatters are still camping on the motorway embankment. RCS Security recently did a clean-up patrol on the northern embankment, and found no shacks, but they did find clear evidence that some people are still sleeping up there. RCS Security have approached the SAPS about relocating the various squatters, and have been told that the main problem is still the on-going shortage of suitable alternative accommodation for the many homeless people who are constantly flooding into Johannesburg. However the SAPS have undertaken to intervene whenever dangerous activity is noted.

There is still the long-standing problem with people squatting on the pavement of Oxford Road at the corner of Riviera Road, outside the offices of the Nelson Mandela Childrens’ Fund. We need to report these problems regularly using photographs, so as to illustrate how serious things are at this intersection from week to week.

The same applies to illegal hawking, illegal street drinking, and public disturbances generally. A lot of residents express continual frustration that the JMPD does not bother to act against illegal hawkers in Killarney. The JMPD’s usual response – if any – is to issue a verbal warning to the hawker, which is happily accepted and then completely ignored. We therefore need to continually report these issues whenever we notice them, include photos with our reports when we can, and always get a reference number. The JMPD contact numbers are included at the end of this newsletter. Please all call them continually – they seem to prioritise their response based on how many complaints each issue receives. Please also encourage your neighbours to call JMPD as well, as often as needed.

There is concern about the dangerous intersection at the corner of Riviera Road and Oxford Road. Traffic speeds along Oxford Road to beat the lights, often driving through on a red light. The road has a substantial bend in it at that intersection, which not all drivers know about, and serious accidents have happened here. Pedestrians who cross half-way and then wait on the traffic island for the next round of lights, are very vulnerable to fast-moving vehicles which might misjudge the curve. It has been suggested to ask the JRA for concrete safety bollards on the islands, to protect the pedestrians to an extent. It would also help to attach reflective signage on these bollards to warn drivers of the bend in the road – especially at night. Among other things, it was also suggested to ask for camera traps for drivers jumping the red light, as that would probably provide more deterrence than an occasional JMPD cop. It was also suggested to ask for the construction of a slip-road for cars turning left from Riviera Road south into Oxford Road, to facilitate safe traffic flow and reduce frustration. We will also be approaching the ward councillor to ask for guidance on these necessary safety improvements.

The project to add a security camera to watch over the 7^th Street car-park area has been completed. The new camera has a zoom function, and it records footage as well. The invoice for the installation is R2303, and the meeting approved the payment. We are researching having an internet connection to allow residents to monitor the area remotely.

The RCS street-cleaner project for the 7^th Street car-park area and pavement has been completed. The meeting approved the payment of the invoice, for R4370 for 10 days of cleaning work. We will need a sponsor if we are going to continue, but it was agreed that we might need to ask RCS for an occasional one-day project from time to time, if there is serious dumping etc. It was suggested to add additional dustbins in this area, after most of the concrete bins were smashed. There is still a bin in the centre of the car park, and a bin on each corner, but perhaps we need a few more. Some research into the options will be undertaken, and suggestions are welcome please.

The risk of cell-phone snatching on pavements continues, and all buildings need to repeatedly warn their residents and visitors of this risk. There is also the risk of cat burglars, who have an amazing ability to climb over impossible fences, who can climb up buildings to unprotected windows and balconies on high floors, and who seem to be impervious to razor wire. We all need to take extra precautions, even if we live on high floors.

The “new” municipal water meter on the pavement of Daventry Court in Riviera Road has not been completed, after many months. It poses a serious hazard to pedestrians. In addition the road repairs outside PPS in Anerley Road have finally been back-filled. However the work is not yet finished, and the intense rain of recent weeks is washing the soil out of the holes, leaving a dangerous excavation once again.

Various dead trees have been reported, including one on the motorway embankment at the top of 4^th Avenue. This tree poses a danger to motorists if it falls onto the motorway. In addition its crumbling branches are sagging progressively, and were blocking the 4^th Avenue pavement, posing a substantial risk to pedestrians – particularly at night. At the same time the pipe repair on the bridge in 4^th Avenue remains unfinished and dangerous, after many months and many requests for service. This excavation is exactly opposite to the dead tree, so the pavements on both sides of that road are a risky area for pedestrians. The NKRA has trimmed the dead branches over the pavement to reduce the safety risk to pedestrians, but the rest of the tree continues to sag over the pavement and the road itself, and it will need to be completely removed as soon as possible.

We need to continually report these issues when we notice them, include photos with the reports when possible, and please be sure to get a reference number.

Your last chance to register to vote in the upcoming general election is the voter registration weekend on 3 and 4 February 2024. On election day, you may only vote at the voting station where you are registered. You will need to have a valid South African ID. You can check your voter registration information at https://www.elections.org.za/pw/voter/voter-information.

There is an organisation called the Friends of the Library in Johannesburg. With their help, some residents are starting up a Friends of Killarney Library to support our own Killarney branch of the Joburg Public Library. Their goal is to publicise the library, to make it more inviting, and to raise funds so that more books can be purchased. If you are interested in participating, please contact Josephine (082 573 0308) or Yasirah (079 287 7008).

The refurbishment project at the Mall is still in the planning stage. It is a multi-million rand project and therefore it will take time to finalise the planning, so as to ensure that the right decisions are made. We have requested the Mall to paint high-visibility murals on the walls of their parking garage around the library entrance, to improve the visibility thereof. The feedback is that the library is possibly going to be relocated as part of the refurbishment project, so this will also be addressed as part of that overall plan. Hopefully this will all be finalised soon.

As we come to the end of the calendar year, we are grateful to the 38 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera who paid their NKRA membership subscriptions for the year – this is about 69% of the total. The list of the members for 2023 is as follows:

• Berkeley Square
• Beverley Heights
• Biarritz
• Brenthurst Court
• Bretton Woods
• Canterbury Close
• Castlerosse
• Chartwell
• Chelston Hall
• Christina Court
• Cranwell Hall
• Daventry Court
• Devon Place
• Dumbarton Oaks
• Earls Court
• Glenhof Gardens
• Greenhills
• Hampshire Mews
• Hyde Court
• Interlaken
• Killarney Court & Gardens
• Killarney Hills
• Killarney Park
• Killarney Village
• Killarney Wilds
• Kingsborough
• Knightsbridge
• Mentone Court
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Portofino
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Sevenoaks
• Splice
• The Rivieras
• Whitehall Court

Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support, and also to the people who make personal donations as well. The invoices for the new financial year will be sent out in March, and we hope that our buildings will continue to support the NKRA in our uphill efforts to protect our suburb, our investment values and our quality of life.

We are happy to receive photos of interesting things that might be happening in our area, which we might include in future newsletters. We also welcome all suggestions, on all issues.

Please let us know if you have suggestions for future projects to be undertaken by the NKRA on behalf of the suburb.

At the moment, these are our primary focuses:

• Managing the squatter problem in Killarney;
• Finding a sponsor for a street cleaner for the 7^th Street car-park area and pavement;
• Continually warning people about crime risks, including specifically the risk of cell-phone snatching on the pavements.

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Our next public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 21 February 2024.

Greetings to all, keep well, and keep safe.

Wayne Ford.

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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