NKRA Communique – July 2023

Hi everyone

We held our July NKRA public meeting over the internet at 18h30 on Wednesday 19 July. The issues arising from that meeting are included in this newsletter. Our next virtual public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 16 August 2023. All owners and residents of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to join in. An agenda with a meeting link will be circulated closer to that date.

A while ago we asked residents to suggest additional improvement projects for the park. One of the most well-supported ideas at the time was for outdoor gym and exercise equipment. The idea was not implemented at that time due to financial constraints, the lack of sponsorship, and the more pressing priorities for our scarce funds. However the Killarney Mall has now stepped up to finance this project, and three pieces of outdoor gym equipment have recently been installed in the park. We can always add extra items in the future if appropriate. Please would you all wait until the end of this week before using it, to allow the concrete around the poles to dry out properly. Many thanks to Killarney Mall for this donation.

The July meeting recorded a huge vote of thanks to Charles Whyte, for his tireless efforts in communicating on our behalf with City Power and Joburg Water during the many service delivery outages which we are experiencing of late. Thank you very much Charles!

Regarding the illegal taxi rank in 1^st Street, the latest feedback on the Mall’s intended renovation plans is that various options for an indoor taxi facility have been proposed to the Mall executives, and these are being discussed with the two taxi associations concerned. We obviously need for the taxi associations to accept the final plan, otherwise they will simply continue to use the streets and pavements as they do currently. Once the Mall has a shortlist of viable options, they will consult with the residents as well. We hope to start that process quite soon.

In the meanwhile, one of the serious symptoms of this illegal taxi rank is the urinating in public, which is unhygienic and quite disgusting. The meeting discussed that many cities have these challenges, but that they all seem to address it by providing simple public urinals at key places. The Mall’s eventual internal taxi facility will provide ablution facilities for taxi drivers, but we don’t know when that will become available. The meeting agreed that, since the resolution of the illegal taxi rank is probably going to take another year or more, we should in the short term approach Mentone Court to permit the construction of a simple screened-off ”privacy area” on that part of their private land which is outside their perimeter wall, in the immediate vicinity of the taxi rank. The idea will NOT impact on the drainage pipes of any building, but will instead use a basic French-drain idea under a loose pebble floor to absorb the urine and prevent it from flowing across the pavements. The basic privacy screen must be cheap, simple and easy to remove once the taxi rank has finally been relocated. Options include precast wall slabs, about shoulder height and with no roof, and with no accessories that could be vandalised or stolen. This would provide us with relief from the bulk of this particular problem, while we wait for a final resolution of the taxi problem itself.

The public parking lot in 7^th Street is increasingly becoming a gathering-place for illegal drinkers. This is very problematic for various reasons, and again the JMPD are not acting to enforce the by-laws. Some of these drinkers have also been observed illegally selling beer to passers-by, and people have been seen throwing sacks of garbage on the pavement and over the fence.

In addition there are also some people living on the motorway embankment at that same spot, in makeshift shelters. They have broken the concrete palisade fence in several places, to gain access to the motorway embankment. They might or might not be the same people who are drinking in the car park.

This has all been reported once again to the ward councillor, together with photos which clearly illustrate the gravity of the situation. Thank you to the people who provided those photos – they do make a difference.

Because this embankment is municipal land, only the municipality (as the owner) can take action against these squatters. In terms of the current laws, they can only force these homeless people away from this spot if they can offer them a safe alternative place to live. At present, with many small rural towns collapsing and millions of desperate people streaming to the main cities in search of a better life, the availability of alternative accommodation is stretched very thin. In addition, either the displaced people will immediately return to the motorway embankment, or others will spot the opportunity and take their place.

The NKRA has repaired that concrete fence several times, but we cannot keep repairing it, as the squatters quickly break open a new access. Reinforcing the fence is a potential plan – either using more of the diamond razor mesh which is currently in place along some stretches, or else by some other method. However the squatters must be relocated from the embankments first, or they will simply break their way back in again. No fence is unbreakable, least of all to people who have plenty of time to invest in the task, and nowhere else to live.

Once again, our best approach for resolving the lawlessness is to collect high-resolution photos and videos of illegal activities, perhaps by redirecting some existing security cameras onto that area, or even installing additional dedicated security cameras. This is not cheap, but it would help a lot. Please would the adjacent buildings consult with their security companies on this idea?

In addition, while we wait for the municipality to do their jobs, we can ourselves at least keep the area clean, perhaps by running a regular sweeping-up project. The NKRA cleaned out this area just a few weeks ago, and even more recently a group of residents undertook a further clean-up effort themselves. However the litter accumulates very quickly in this area – perhaps due in part to systematic illegal dumping. It is well known that a heavily-littered pavement will attract even more litter, until that location becomes a “recognised” dumping area.

We are therefore also currently looking for a sponsor for a dedicated street cleaner to manage this litter in the parking area in 7^th Street near the circle, as well as the pavement along 7^th Street. Meanwhile, we ask the neighbouring buildings to help by cleaning up that litter (or at least part of it) on a regular basis, as the municipality does not seem to address this problem.

The municipal Public Open Spaces By-Laws, at clause 16(i), require that dogs in the park must be “on a leash and under control of a person”, unless they are in “any part thereof designated by the Council as an area where dogs may run free”. No part of our park in Killarney is designated as an area where dogs may run free. Nonetheless, some dog owners allow their dogs to run freely in the park, and sometimes uncontrolled dogs do approach and frighten people – especially children. Formal written enquiries have been made to City Parks about the possibility of building a fenced-off area inside the park for dogs to run free, as is envisaged in the by-laws, but no response has yet been received. The public meeting agreed that this would be a valuable asset, and it was agreed to continue with these enquiries.

For all municipal service delivery issues, including potholes, pavements, Pikitup, electricity and water issues, you can contact the municipal Call Centre on 0860 562 874 to have your concerns forwarded to the relevant operational departments. Please would everybody keep on reporting these issues, and always ask them for a reference number. Please try to include photographs of the problem where you can, because the municipality seems to respond slightly faster when we include photos to support our complaints. You can also log municipal problems on MySmartCity, at https://mysmart.city, or download their App from the website. There is also a Johannesburg Ombudsman, who can be contacted at complaints@joburgombudsman.org.za. However before you lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman, you must first lodge a formal complaint with the call centre at 0860 562 874, and you need to have a reference number. The Ombudsman will not assist you if your query is less than 30 (thirty) days old.

At the NKRA April public meeting it was proposed to launch a lawsuit against the municipality to compel them to enforce the municipal by-laws. An advocate who lives in Killarney has offered to lead this process on behalf of the community free of charge, but we also need an attorney to volunteer to undertake the attorney-level activities. In the previous newsletter we asked attorneys who live in Killarney to volunteer, but so far we have had no response. If we cannot find a volunteer, then we will need to pay for these services, and that will probably be quite expensive. If you know any attorneys, please would you assist us to recruit a suitable volunteer?

Thieves stole power cables recently on the 4^th Avenue bridge, and some suspicious persons have also been observed working on the 9^th Street pavement outside Knightsbridge. It was noted that thieves are acting with relative impunity. If you see something suspicious, please report it to the police. The police may never respond, but sometimes they do, and every little bit helps. Since these thefts often involve the use of vehicles, it is also very useful to take photos of the people and of their vehicles. Security cameras can be very valuable for this purpose, provided the film is clear enough to read licence plates, and provided the footage is recorded. 

Regarding public safety and security, the snatching of cell-phones is still our biggest safety problem, so please advise all of your residents and their visitors to be careful with their phones (and other possessions) while they are outside on the pavements.

So far 35 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have paid their NKRA membership subscriptions for the year ahead – this is about 64% of the total. The current list of the members for 2023 so far is as follows:

• Berkeley Square
• Beverley Heights
• Biarritz
• Brenthurst Court
• Bretton Woods
• Canterbury Close
• Castlerosse
• 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 Village
• Killarney Wilds
• Kingsborough
• Knightsbridge
• Mentone Court
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Portofino
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Sevenoaks
• Splice
• The Rivieras

Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support. Thank you also to the various people who make personal donations as well.

We are happy to receive photos of any interesting things that might be happening around our area, which we might include in future newsletters. We also welcome all suggestions from all residents, on all issues. In particular, we seek feedback on the various issues described above. The primary action points this month are:

• Resolving the squatter problem on the motorway embankment;
• Finding a sponsor for a street cleaner for the 7^th Street car park area and pavement;
• The suggestion for a fenced-off area inside the park for dogs to run free;
• Continually warning people about the risk of cell-phone snatching;
• Finding an attorney to volunteer to help us sue the municipality.

Our next virtual meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 16 August 2023.

Greetings to all, keep well, and keep safe. J

Wayne Ford