NKRA Communique – October 2021

Hi everyone

The Covid-19 pandemic was subsiding in Gauteng, but now we are being warned about a dangerous new variant of the virus, and an impending 4^th Wave. As the holiday season arrives, there will be a natural temptation to relax and to party, and many people will inevitably slack off on adhering to the basic safety measures as well. It is once again critical to be fully vaccinated, and we need to communicate this to friends and family as well. In addition, we should all continue to observe social distancing, at least among strangers, and to sanitise our hands. For now the wearing of masks in public places is still mandatory, and the curfew still applies from midnight. You can go to https://www.gov.za/covid-19/  to obtain additional detailed information.

The municipal elections went smoothly in Johannesburg. The final vote was spread quite evenly across multiple parties, as was expected. The ANC has been ousted from power in Johannesburg by a collective of diverse and conflicting parties, who will now attempt to provide us with a stable municipal government despite having no formal coalition agreements. This could usher in an ideal model of multi-party co-operation and political maturity, or it could lead to constant instability and eventual paralysis, as happened last time. We can only hope that something gets done about the basic municipal challenges along the way. Our two ward councillors are:

• Ward 67 – Refiloe Mazibuko 078 311 2267 – martham@joburg.org.za
• Ward 73 – Eleanor Huggett – 071 785 8068 – eleanorhuggett@gmail.com

As part of the new municipal government, the Ward Councillors are all required to create ward committees to support grass-roots governance. These committees are elected by the residents in each ward. The successful candidates are paid a stipend for their time and efforts, and this tends to attract people who are looking for an income rather than seeking to serve their communities, so it is important that people who are genuinely concerned about improving their communities should also make themselves available for election please. If you are interested in perhaps becoming a member of the Ward 67 or the Ward 73 ward committees, please contact the Ward Councillor in question for the details.

As regards the illegal taxi rank in 1^st Street, the Mall has proposed to build an indoor taxi facility, inside the former Toyota workshop space. This will be invisible to the residents and the shoppers, and the noise will be contained inside that garage. That space was built for cars and engines etc, so it is appropriately sound-proof and fire-proof, and it is properly ventilated. Toilet facilities will be constructed, and the Mall will provide security and cleaning as well. The original entrance and exit for that workshop was through the petrol station, but this path cannot be used for the higher volumes of taxis due to safety and traffic concerns. The proposed entrance and exit for this taxi facility will thus be in Killarney Avenue, feeding through the current hardware store parking area, and using their existing entrance and exit driveways. Please see the images below.

If the taxis are not happy with the new location, they will simply stay where they are in 1^st Street. A sustainable solution therefore requires that all stakeholders must be satisfied, and achieving this requires time, patience and compromise.

Although moving the taxi rank will greatly improve 1^st Street, and the quality of life for many residents in that vicinity, it will not automatically remove the hawkers, the street drinking or its attendant problems. The Mall will not allow the drinking or the hawking to move inside the Mall property, so they will probably continue to operate illegally on our pavements. To solve the illegal drinking, we need proper effective law enforcement. Hopefully the new Mayor and the new Mayoral Committee members will support the enforcement of the laws prohibiting drinking alcohol on the street.

Please report these illegal drinking parties to the police on every occasion. Drinking alcohol on a pavement is always illegal, anywhere in Gauteng, and many of these drinkers are also breaking Covid rules regarding masks and curfews etc as well. The police don’t always respond, and when they do they often just issue warnings to the drinkers, but sometimes they do confiscate alcohol or even make arrests, so it’s worth calling them. The more people who call in to report these issues, the better are our chances of getting a proper response.

As the holiday season approaches, crime tends to increase – especially purse snatching, phone snatching and pick-pocketing. Please take care with your valuable possessions, especially on the pavements. We are probably also going to experience an increase in burglaries, when people start leaving upstairs windows open in hot weather, and there is always the risk of a smash-and-grab crime when you are sitting in traffic, so please do not leave valuable items in plain sight inside your cars. Constant vigilance is our best defence.

If you do notice anything that looks like a crime in progress, please call your security company, as well as the SAPS on 10111 (or 112 from your cell phone). You can also contact the Killarney SAPS sector manager (Sergeant Mdlolo) on 082 355 5646.

There are still vagrants living in the vacant property in Oxford Road between Riviera Road and North Road, next to the Gautrain emergency exit building. The development of this stand would solve all our problems. The size of the stand is 2996sqm, and the asking price is negotiable from R11 million. The agent selling this land is Margi Khadhraoui of Frankie Bells, and you can contact her on 071 904 4177 or at 011 781 5247.

With all the welcome rain, the grass in the park is growing again, as are the trees and shrubs.  We would welcome all donations of plants and shrubs for the park, and particularly seeds for sun-loving low-maintenance low-water flowering plants please. If we had enough marigold seeds, we could create a Namaqualand effect in the park.

33 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera are currently paid-up members of the NKRA – this is about 60% of the total. Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support. The current list of the members for 2021 is as follows:

1. Beverly Heights
2. Biarritz
3. Brenthurst Court
4. Bretton Woods
5. Canterbury Close
6. Chartwell
7. Chelston Hall
8. Christina Court
9. Cranwell Hall
10. Daventry Court
11. Devon Place
12. Dumbarton Oaks
13. Gleneagles
14. Glenhof Gardens
15. Greenhills
16. Hampshire Mews
17. Hatherley Hall
18. Hyde Court
19. Interlaken
20. Killarney Court & Gardens
21. Killarney Hills
22. Killarney Park
23. Killarney Village
24. Kingsborough
25. La Camargue
26. Mentone Court
27. Monviso
28. Portofino
29. Rapallo
30. Riviera Mansions
31. Santa Margherita
32. Sevenoaks
33. The Rivieras

If your building does make a membership contribution, please ask your managing agent to include the reference number as well, so as to facilitate the allocation of the payment on our side.

Please would NKRA members give us feedback on the issues described above? We also welcome all suggestions from all residents, on all issues.

Keep well, and keep safe.

Wayne Ford