NKRA Communique – September 2024

Hi everyone

We held our September NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 18 September 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 16 October 2024. All residents and owners of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

The meeting discussed the proposed repainting of the street names on the kerbs. Our best proposal is to hire a service provider to do this work, at R11,500. This has been publicised and nobody has objected, so it was resolved to proceed with this project. The service provider will need to be directed and supervised, so skilled volunteers will be needed please.

Meanwhile, an enterprising resident has hired an artist to do a mosaic street name for their road. This looks great, and other residents are sure to follow.

Thankfully we survived the water outage crisis, but since we still don’t know exactly what caused it, we cannot be sure it won’t happen again. In fact, because we know the main municipal pipes are old and badly corroded, we can safely assume that these outages will occur regularly over the next few years. We all need to learn from this – we cannot live for long without clean water, and since we cannot rely on the municipality to provide consistent services, each building and household needs to develop our own Plan B. This could range from families storing bottles filled with tap water under their beds, to buildings installing large JoJo tanks in their garages, to boreholes. We have learned what it is like to depend on a tanker truck, so perhaps we should try to install our own “tankers” in our garages or gardens, to ensure that we have a reasonable degree of water-independence.

One of the most valuable upliftment projects in our neighbourhood is the “Themba Cleanup Project”, which was started by residents and paid for out of their pockets. Themba on his own costs R400 per day, with his bakkie, and he has done various cleaning and repair projects. It was previously proposed that the NKRA should support this project with funding, at the level of R2,000 per month for 12 months, so that the project can always do a few clean-ups every month. Additional projects will need to be funded by other donations. This proposal has been publicised and nobody has objected, so it was resolved to proceed with this project. You can join their WhatsApp group at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn.

The NKRA Gardens project aims to grow food in the 4^th Street Park, in a manner which does not obstruct other residents from using the Park. A suitable area has been chosen along the white south boundary wall, the ground has been composted, and veggies have been planted. Our first crop is on its way. Hopefully we will start to get regular rain, but in the meanwhile we need volunteers to help us with watering please. If you are interested in participating, please join us at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cjh3eJl57pv1XcoQ7OEBj9

Mentone Court has joined in the spirit of this project, by planting veggies on their pavement as well. The more, the better. All buildings are encouraged to plant on their pavements, but please ensure that the pavement is still able to be used safely by pedestrians.

The problem of the illegal hawkers, and the illegal drinking on pavements, still persists. This will probably get worse as the weather warms up. We do get some support from SAPS, but the JMPD is not doing much about it at all. Serious parties are now being held in the parking lot of the Urban Hardware store. This is on the Mall’s private property, and the Mall’s security people are intervening, so hopefully this will be resolved soon.

The on-going risks of phone-snatching on pavements, and of pickpockets, also seems to be getting worse. The thieves seem to target Uber customers, in particular. All buildings are encouraged to warn their residents by any means possible, and to put up signs at doors and in lifts to warn visitors as well.

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.

The Community Street Patrols are becoming well-established. These patrols are having a nice positive impact, and the drinkers they encounter tend to disperse without much fuss. They are now doing one formal patrol on weekends, with other adhoc walks during the week, and they welcome more people to join in. The patrols are usually accompanied by some security officers, and the number of residents participating is growing. You can contact them at this link:  https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

There are homeless people living on the highway embankment, and on the pavement outside Mentone Court in 1^st Street. There was also a growing community living at ERF 274 in Oxford Road, Riviera. Community members interacted with the people at ERF 274, and encouraged them to move to a municipal shelter. An official inspection by the municipal Health Inspector had ruled that the area is unsafe, based on the presence of human waste and the burning of toxic substances, among other reasons. The owners of that land have chosen to remain anonymous, but we were able to communicate our concerns to them via their estate agent. Thankfully the owner has since taken steps, and the land has been cleared. We hope this fix will be permanent, but we will continue to monitor the situation.

The small park in Anerley Road, at the corner of 7^th Street, is fenced on three sides, and these fences were recently repaired and painted by the community. However the municipal fence along the fourth side (along the motorway embankment) has been almost entirely broken out and stolen. This exposes the area to intrusion from the highway side, and there is much evidence of squatting in that space. It has been proposed to replace the stolen fence with a razor-mesh security fence, at a cost of R28,456. It has also been proposed to plant a hedge of kei apple trees, which grow fast and which have serious thorns, and which are often used as barrier hedges. Their fruit is edible, although it is apparently very acidic. The NKRA has been requested to contribute to the cost of the fence. It was proposed to put this idea to the members in the newsletter for comment. Please all share your ideas and suggestions?

At the meeting, it was also suggested that we need to find a use for the small Anerley Park in 7^th Street, because a constant presence helps to deter squatters and loiterers. It was suggested to ask some dog walkers to use that space. It is not suitable for a playground because of the proximity to the highway and other busy roads, and it is currently also not suitable as a garden because of the difficulty in providing water. It was suggested to ask the ward councillor (David Modupi) to investigate the possibility of the municipality reopening and refurbishing the ablution facility in 7^th Street at the Anerley Road corner. This would make the Anerley Park a bit more attractive to residents, and it will also provide a convenient source of water. Please all share your ideas and suggestions?

The concrete security fence on the motorway embankment has been damaged over time in a number of places by trees and by vandals. This damage was recently fixed, using funds raised by private donations. The meeting thanked Ismail for his sterling efforts in co-ordinating this project. We also thank all the residents who donated funds toward this project.

It has been proposed to replace the plain palisade-steel park gate in the 4^th Avenue entrance to our park, with a steel artwork gate made by Killarney resident James Delaney – who has done a lot of metal sculptures for The Wilds. The existing green steel palisade gate will be utilised on the embankment. City Parks is potentially willing to agree to this, provided we pay for it. This project will cost around R13,000. The meeting suggested that if City Parks gives their permission, then the NKRA should provide R4,500 toward this project. It was resolved to put this proposal to the members in the newsletter for comment. This donation will be voted on at the October meeting, but if any members have concerns or objections, please do let us know in the meanwhile.

In the meanwhile, other sources of funding will also be pursued. If there are any businesses in Killarney who are willing to sponsor such an artwork, please do let us know.

Our latest feedback from the Mall manager on the Killarney Mall refurbishment progress is that the planning process is still on-going. It is proving very difficult to find a solution that will simultaneously suit the specific requirements of the residents, the taxi operators, the Mall tenants and the Mall customers. Residents can all contact the Mall management directly, at killarneymall@cityprop.co.za.

At the time of publishing this newsletter, 40 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have already paid their NKRA membership subscriptions for the year – this is about 72% 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
• Glenhof Gardens
• Greenhills
• Hampshire Mews
• Highbury
• Hyde Court
• Interlaken
• Killarney Court & Gardens
• Killarney Hills
• Killarney Park
• Killarney Village
• Killarney Wilds
• Knightsbridge
• La Camargue
• Mentone Court
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Santa Margherita
• 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.

The motto of the NKRA is “Safer, Cleaner, Better, Greener”. If you have any specific ideas and suggestions to implement this vision, please do share them urgently. Otherwise, our primary focuses are currently as follows:

• Managing the squatter and hawker and taxi problems in Killarney;
• 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 phone-snatching on the pavements;
• Building up a sustainable Community Street Patrol;
• Building up a sustainable Community Gardens Project to grow food;
• 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.

Our next public meeting will be held at 18h30 on Wednesday 16 October 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