NKRA Communique – June 2024

Hi everyone

We held our June NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 19 June 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 17 July 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.

Riviera Villas have used their strip of land outside their perimeter wall in Riviera Road to plant vegetables, for the use of all who have need. This is a most admirable initiative, which we strongly support. The by-laws prevent us from planting anything in a manner which might block the walkway, but provided you do not obstruct the safe passage of pedestrians, planting on pavements is legal and encouraged. Our NKRA gardener Nolicent has been growing veggies in the park for years, with great success, and many people have been harvesting this food for their needs. We are therefore starting up an NKRA Farm Project, to grow food on suitable areas on pavements and in the unused corners of the park. Please let us know if you are interested to participate.

An old African proverb, sometimes quoted by Desmond Tutu, teaches that “there is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time.”

The huge stump of the fallen tree at the corner of Anerley Road was finally removed by the municipality. Since then a community upliftment initiative, consisting of committed residents assisted by paid workers, has pulled the buckled steel fence back upright, and the pavement surface has been reinstated. The steel fence has been repainted as well. It is not perfect yet, but this corner is now looking very much better!

Building on this momentum, a group of very committed residents have spent many days cleaning the motorway embankment alongside 7^th Street and Newtown Avenue. They are calling themselves the WALKERS (“We All ? Killarney”). An incredible amount of work has been done, and the embankment area is looking vastly better. They cleaned away a burned-up mattress, a lot of takeaway food containers, cool-drink and alcohol bottles, huge numbers of Ghanaian whiskey packets, some broken windscreen glass, a toilet seat, and many binbags full of domestic refuse, which should have gone into domestic wheelie-bins but were dumped on the embankment instead. Absolute mountains of garbage have been removed and dumped, and the many trees which were damaging the security fence have been pruned. The elephant is still big, but it is a few bites smaller than it was a month ago.

A number of residents came out on the various days to help with the cleaning, and other residents provided the cleaning teams with food, coffee and tools. A number of residents also donated money toward the project. The impact of the improvement must be seen to be believed. A huge round of applause must go to Nadia, Ismile and their many helpers, for this incredible achievement. The project continues, so if you would like to contribute, please join their WhatsApp group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn

If you would like to contribute to these projects by donating money, we now have two bank accounts. The THEMBA bank account is dedicated to the clean-up projects, and the NKRA bank account is used for all other projects. Please note on your deposit slip if you wish to dedicate your donation to a specific project or issue.

Vagrants are gaining access to the motorway embankment through a number of holes which have been broken through the concrete security fence. These holes are apparently also used by muggers and robbers, who escape pursuit by disappearing through these holes onto the embankment. We are therefore also researching a project to repair the concrete security fence along the motorway embankment. This is going to be expensive.

Most buildings do clean their pavements regularly. We do however need additional buildings to please adopt any pavement bins in their vicinity, and to clear them occasionally if they find the bins are overflowing. We do have a sponsored NKRA street cleaner who patrols the entire area and attends to this, but if a bin fills up when he is on the other side of town, any paper or plastic that overflows onto the floor will blow around in the wind and will undermine the entire locality. It is well known that litter attracts litter – when people see a pile of litter on a pavement corner, they are less hesitant to add their own litter to that pile. Clearing over-flowing bins will help enormously to keep the area clean and attractive. If you notice illegal dumping, please send a WhatsApp message to PikiTup on 082 779 1361.

A physical inspection has been conducted around Killarney by a group of residents, to gather information about missing manhole covers. The findings of the inspection have been reported to the municipality. Research is now being done to identify a practical and affordable solution. Custom-fitted composite covers seem to be the best idea, but this is neither easy nor cheap.

We continue to update our register of pavements which require repairs. At present, the list is as follows: 9th street in front of Knightsbridge; Newtown Avenue near 9^th Street; 3^rd Avenue near 7^th Street; 8^th Street near 3^rd Avenue, 4^th Avenue near Riviera Road; various spots around Mentone Court; the entire road surface of 2^nd Avenue; the entire road surface of 2^nd Street; and the entire road surface of 5^th Street. Please let us know of any other issues which require attention. We are only addressing asphalt repairs for now – bricked surfaces will need to be done as a separate project. We must finalise this list soon, so that we can undertake the pothole and pavement repair project early in the spring. The project will cost R22,000 per truckload of asphalt, which includes labour etc. One truckload will cover all the issues that have been logged so far, excluding the damage in 2^nd Avenue, 2^nd Street or 5^th Street. We will continue to ask the municipality to repair 2^nd Avenue in particular, where traffic volumes are substantial, and the surface damage is severe and extensive. Furthermore, if anybody is a Discovery customer, please continue to call the Discovery Pothole Patrol to help as well – particularly in the main roads where we will struggle to do repairs because of the traffic.

We need to get additional security cameras in 1^st Street, to monitor and record the drug selling and other illegal activity. The NKRA PZT camera in 1^st Street at Daventry Court cannot record the illegal activity at the corner with 2^nd Avenue, because there are too many trees and other obstructions. It has been suggested for the NKRA to purchase another PZT camera, and to mount it on the Killarney Court and Gardens building, where the awning over the front door extends far across the pavement. RCS are confident that those guards will be able to operate the camera. More research is needed on the technicalities of this idea, and the probable costs involved.

We still experience 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.

However one of our security service providers has told us that “follow-home crimes” have increased dramatically of late. The robbers often choose victims in a public place like a shop, based on visible wealth such as expensive jewellery, expensive car, expensive phone etc. They then follow the victim home, and often the hi-jacking takes place in the driveway or at the gate. We all need to be alert at all times when out on the road. It is easy to be distracted by children in the car, or by a phone-call etc. Watch the mirrors closely to see if you are being followed. If you notice that a vehicle appears to be following you, keep driving, but slow down – an innocent car that is coincidentally going in the same direction, will then overtake you. However always keep moving, and drive to a safe place – any building that has good security who can help you, such as a shopping mall perhaps. Do not go home – you may be vulnerable in the driveway, and in any case you do not want them to find out where you live. Do not confront the gangsters – they are often armed, and they may panic and react violently. Make sure you have an emergency number programmed onto your phone, whether your security company, or a trusted friend or family member who can arrange for protection while you are still on the road.

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. We thank Vision Tactical Security for this valuable service! Keep these numbers on your speed-dial, in case you need them out on the road in a hurry!

A community foot-patrol is being formed, of residents who will walk in a group along 7^th Street regularly. These walkers will notice any activity on the embankment, and will seek to create a visible presence in that vicinity. If you would like to join in, and get your exercise while socialising with other committed residents and improving our suburb, please join their WhatsApp group at this link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

We are still seeking a reliable and affordable painter to repaint all the street names on the kerbs. The best quote so far is for R12,000. If you know of painters who would be willing to help us with this useful project, please do get in touch with us.

We still have not received any detailed information on the Killarney Mall refurbishment project. The board of directors of the company which owns the Mall have been given a range of options and costs by their consultants, and they are still working through the various options, trying to balance cost against benefit. We still do not have a time-frame for this plan. We continue to push the Mall management for plans and for progress, in particular on those aspects which would address the illegal taxi rank in 1^st Street.

At the time of publishing this newsletter, 35 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have already paid their NKRA membership subscriptions for the year – this is about 64% of the total. The list of the members for 2024 so far is as follows:

• Berkeley Square
• Beverley Heights
• 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 Carmague
• 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”. Please let us know if you have any additional suggestions for future projects to be undertaken by the NKRA on behalf of the suburb. These are currently our primary focuses:

• 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;
• Launching a community foot patrol;
• Starting up a Farm Project to grow food;
• Managing the squatter and hawker and taxi problems in Killarney;
• Continually warning residents and visitors about crime risks, including the risk of pick-pockets and cell-phone snatching on the pavements;
• Clearing the motorway embankment of litter, and fixing the security fence;
• Undertaking community projects where possible, including the W.A.L.K. 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.

Our next public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 19 June 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.

Wayne Ford

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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