NKRA Communique – July 2024

Hi everyone

We held our July NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 17 July 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 August 2024. All owners and residents of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

After years of begging, the municipality has finally acted to replace some of the missing manhole covers on the pavements in Killarney. They started with the very dangerous holes on the bridge in 4^th Avenue over the motorway. These holes were very deep, and this is a high-traffic pavement. The new covers are slightly raised above the pavement surface, so they are still not totally safe, but it is very much safer than it was. We thank the municipality for this, and we hope they will continue until they have repaired every dangerous hole on every pavement in Killarney-Riviera.

On 30 July a group of representatives from the buildings closest to the Mall, held a meeting with the Mall owners to accelerate the process of relocating the illegal taxi rank and its illegal hawkers away from our pavements. It was an amicable and professional discussion. A number of issues were discussed and agreed.

It was emphasised that the overall attractiveness of the Mall, and of Killarney generally, is being diminished by the illegal taxi rank and its hawkers. The representatives noted that there is a legal obligation for a mall the size of Killarney Mall to accommodate a taxi rank, and we requested an update from the Mall on their progress to date, including details of previous relocation attempts that did not work, and of the other available options besides those already tested. The Mall management team has members who understand the taxi business and can interact with the taxi associations, and they will meet with these people and provide the community with feedback. Timelines have not yet been agreed.

We also discussed an active clean-up plan to include physically cleaning the affected streets, and plans to manage the excessive loitering, littering, noise, hawking, and security concerns. We also requested an update on the performance of the new security surveillance camera which the Mall has recently installed to monitor activities in 1^st Street.

The Mall owners agreed to address our taxi rank relocation request, and they also proposed to carry out a range of quick-win projects to further uplift the area. They will seek to deploy some additional people to Killarney as well, to expand and enhance their existing pavement security and street cleaning efforts. The Killarney Mall has already stationed four foot-patrollers to cover Killarney Avenue, Riveria Road, 2^nd Street and 1^st Street, as well as a street cleaner, but more people are needed here.

In addition to the taxi and hawker issue, the Mall are also asking us to make suggestions of how they can help the community, and in particular, how they can improve the Mall itself to better cater to our needs. Please would you all email your suggestions and requests to the Centre Manager of Killarney Mall, at killarneymall@cityprop.co.za. The more, the better.

A lot of residents are concerned about the on-going problems caused by the illegal taxi rank, the illegal hawkers who are attracted by the crowds of taxi passengers, and the associated congestion, noise, litter and hygiene issues. The Killarney Mall have repeatedly told us that they are far advanced with plans to refurbish the Mall, which will also resolve the taxi issue, but patience is wearing thin. Groups of concerned residents have now created two separate on-line petitions, both seeking to urge the owners of Killarney Mall to speed up the finalisation of their plans. The two petitions use different wording, but if you would like to support either of these petitions, you can use these links:

Petition – Save Killarney

Petition · Killarney Community Cleanup

Our street and pavement repair project is now quite advanced. A number of problem areas have been identified for repair. The repair project will cost R22,000 per truckload of asphalt. The July NKRA meeting resolved to purchase one truckload of asphalt, and to see how many problem areas we can fix with that. Further projects can be undertaken thereafter if needed. The weather is warming up now, so unless any member-building objects to this project being undertaken at this price, we will take a final vote on this at the public meeting of 21 August. In addition, we will continue to pressure the JRA to do repairs as well, in particular on the busy and dangerous high-traffic roads.

The list of problem areas to be addressed by this project so far, is as follows:

• Potholes at traffic circle in 4^th Ave cnr 7^th Street;
• Pothole in Newtown Ave cnr 8^th Street;
• Hole in front of Knightsbridge on 9^th Street;
• Potholes at 3^rd Avenue near 7^th Street;
• Potholes at 3^rd Street cnr 2^nd Ave;
• 2^nd Ave pavement outside Dumbarton Oaks;
• 2^nd Ave pothole outside Dumbarton Oaks;
• 2^nd Ave pavement outside Gleneagles;
• 2^nd Ave pothole outside Mentone Court;
• Mentone Court pavements all around;
• 4^th Ave pothole near Riviera Road;
• 2^nd Street pavement behind Brenthurst Court;
• 2^nd Street damaged areas behind Sevenoaks;
• Various damaged areas in 2^nd Avenue.

The new community upliftment initiative is cleaning up garbage, litter and weeds on the motorway embankment along 7^th Street. They are called the WALKERS, and they are doing unbelievable work, adding huge value to our neighbourhood. They need more volunteers to help them, and it also helps if complexes could loan them your complex gardeners for a day if possible. If you are interested in helping out, you can join via the WhatsApp group at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn.

There is an on-going problem with PikiTup being slow to collect bags of rubbish at the pavement bins. This rubbish gets disturbed, and then it blows around in the wind. Please help us by “adopting” the pavement bins on your pavements, and by clearing them quickly if they start to overflow.  In addition, if you notice illegal dumping of any description, please send a WhatsApp message to PikiTup on 082 779 1361.

Some residents are starting up a project to grow vegetables on suitable pavements, and in corners of the park in 4^th Street. This is being called the NKRA Community Gardens Project. The food they grow will be freely available for any passersby to pick as they need. Again, they welcome all volunteers. If you are interested in gardening, and would like to participate in this project, you can find them at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cjh3eJl57pv1XcoQ7OEBj9

Some community members are planning a community day on Newtown Avenue and 7^th Street for Sunday 1st September, the first day of Spring, to plant some new kalanchoe sexangularis along the concrete motorway fence. These are flowering, hardy, water-wise evergreen succulents with attractive green leaves that turn ruby-red in the winter. The Killarney Mall has generously offered to sponsor the plants. Please join us on Spring Day at the 7^th Street carpark to plant these new additions to our suburb, and to help to further uplift our neighbourhood.

Some enthusiastic people have also started a Community Street Patrol, which will consist of groups of residents going for a walk together along various troubled roads, to observe the situation in these various areas and also purely to create a presence. They are accompanied by security officers, and they will not confront anybody. They are welcoming people to join in, so if you enjoy walking, and would like to do so together with a group of neighbours, them please contact them at this link:  https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

Despite all our efforts, we continue to struggle with illegal hawkers, and with illegal drinking on pavements. This is bad in 1^st Street around the illegal taxi rank, but it is spreading to other streets as well. A site meeting was recently held on the pavements in 1^st Street at the illegal taxi rank. It was arranged at short notice by the ward councillor, and various municipal officials were present, including a JMPD inspector. The JMPD inspector undertook to improve the law enforcement over the taxis blocking garage entrances. The other officials agreed that the hawkers are illegal, and they promised to consult with other departments about the enforcement issues. The need to move the taxi rank onto the Mall premises was discussed briefly, and again the officials promised to provide feedback. No time-frames were stipulated.

We have obtained a quote to install an additional PZT security camera in 1^st Street, from the same company who installed the very-successful camera in 1^st Street at Daventry Court. It will cost R40,000 for a high-spec camera and recording equipment, plus necessary accessories and installation. This will be powerful enough to watch 1^st Street all the way from 4^th Avenue to the 2^nd Avenue intersection. In addition the Killarney Mall has installed a security camera to watch over the illegal taxi area in 1^st Street, and a security camera at Castlerosse is watching over the 7^th Street car park. It has also been suggested to install security lights at the 7^th Street carpark to improve security at night. Running power cables across the road would be impossible, so either we need to put the lights on the Castlerosse building, or we need to use solar lights. Various solar options will be researched. We thank the body corporate of Greenhills for the warning signs which have been installed at the 7^th Street carpark.

We need more light on many of our pavements, especially those which are heavily shadowed by foliage. Buildings are therefore asked please to install additional LED security lights to light up any dark areas of your adjacent pavements. In many areas, affordable solar lights would be ideal for this purpose, so no power cables or electricity consumption would be required. This would also help enormously to preserve our security during power outages, or if load-shedding returns.

We still experience occasional incidents of cell-phone snatching on pavements. We will continue to encourage all buildings to put up warning signs, particularly aimed at residents and visitors who use Uber, as these people seem to be the primary targets. We have also received isolated reports of pickpockets, including inside the Killarney Mall itself. Vision Tactical Security have patrol cars in Killarney, and they are willing to react to all reports of criminal activity. If you notice any suspicious behaviour, you can contact the Vision Tactical control room on 084 222 2222, or on 010 972 2600, or on 061 071 2001. Their two response vehicles are on 072 830 5305 from 8am to 10pm, and on 071 570 5173 from 10am to 10pm.

Vagrants are gaining access to the motorway embankment through a number of holes which have been broken through the motorway’s concrete security fence along the length of 7^th Street and Newtown Avenue. These holes are apparently also used by  smash-&-grab robbers and phone-snatchers, who escape pursuit by disappearing through these holes onto the embankment. We are therefore also researching a project to repair this concrete security fence along the motorway embankment. This is going to be very expensive, and community-based fundraising efforts are underway.

We have suffered a number of extended electricity outages recently. These are due variously to damaged cables, cable thefts, transformer repairs, and failures at sub-stations. We have asked the Ward councillor to help to identify an appropriate senior person at City Power, along with their contact details, to whom we can refer for updates whenever these outages happen. In addition, there is a municipal channel for reporting malfunctioning streetlights, which can be accessed at his link: https://forms.gle/zSwLHMFY2NAeFu187.

We are starting with the repainting the street names on kerbs. A few kerbs will be done around 7^th Street and Anerley Road to begin with, and we will learn from that experience. Thereafter the rest of the streets will be painted as well.

At the time of publishing this newsletter, 36 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have already paid their NKRA membership subscriptions for the year – this is about 65% of the total. The list of the members for 2024 so far 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
• Greenhills
• Hampshire Mews
• Hyde Court
• Interlaken
• Killarney Court & Gardens
• Killarney Hills
• Killarney Park
• Killarney Village
• Knightsbridge
• La Camargue
• Mentone Court
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Sevenoaks
• Sloan Square
• Splice
• St John’s Wood
• The Rivieras

Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support, and also to the various people who make personal donations as well. We are grateful for this support, which enables us to undertake projects for the benefit of us all.

Our motto is “Safer, Cleaner, Better, Greener”. Our strategy for achieving these objectives is still the following – put private security on our pavements; put security cameras with recording systems on our buildings to record any illegal activities on our pavements; put extra lighting on the pavements; fix holes in the pavements and streets ourselves; clean and green our own pavements, and contribute as best we can toward the various on-going community cleaning, greening and safety projects. If you have any additional ideas, please do share them urgently. Otherwise, these are currently our primary focuses:

• Managing the squatter and hawker and taxi problems in Killarney;
• Developing a register of pavements and potholes that need attention, and undertaking another pavement and pothole fix;
• Acquiring appropriate security cameras in 1^st Street and elsewhere;
• Continually warning residents and visitors about crime risks, including the risk of pick-pockets and cell-phone snatching on the pavements;
• Building up a sustainable community foot patrol;
• Starting up a Community Gardens Project to grow food;
• Clearing the motorway embankment of litter, and fixing the security fence;
• Undertaking community projects where possible, including the WALKER initiatives.

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 inputs, on all issues. All interested persons can contact us at wdford@global.co.za to be added to the mailing list. Our website is at www.nkra.org.za.

• Please see attached a letter from the Centre Manager of the Killarney Mall.
• Please see attached an important poster, and we ask all buildings to put this up on the notice boards inside your buildings.

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Our next public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 21 August 2024. All owners and residents of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

Please would you share this newsletter with all your neighbours in Killarney-Riviera?

Greetings to all, keep well, and keep safe.

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City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911

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