MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 20th FEBRUARY 2019

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT ROOM 223A OF THE MALL OFFICE TOWER
ON WEDNESDAY 20 FEBRUARY 2019 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); Tony Mantle (Gleneagles); Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Michael Kalk (Brenthurst Court); Colin Wasserfall (Houghton Estates RA); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Tilla Peens (Killarney Park); Estelle Jacobs (Killarney Park); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles).

1. WELCOME
Charles took the chair as Wayne was not present due to illness. The members wished Wayne a speedy recovery. The chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES
Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Dean Dada (RCS Security); Romi Reinecke (Daventry Court); Paulo Joaquim (Sevenoaks).

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT
• We will strive to keep the discussions short and relevant, so as to finish by 6pm.

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
• The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read, and were approved.

5. SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM
• Sergeant Mdlolo was not present. No crime-stats were available.
• It was reported that an elderly and frail lady was attacked in 1st Street West on Sunday 17 February. She stopped to tell youngsters not to play soccer in the street when a burly man who was drinking in the street opened her car door, which was not locked. Fortunately she was not hurt. Another car came past quickly, stopped and helped to resolve the situation. Charles knows the lady and has helped her – she appears to be OK.
• The victim has reported the case to the SAPS. Daventry Court recorded the incident on the NKRA security camera, and footage of the incident will be presented to the SAPS.
• The NKRA’s new high-resolution camera at Daventry Court in 1st Street is working well. We have downloaded much video evidence already, which has been distributed to Councillor Huggett and others. Romi Reinecke our CPF representative will copy this footage to the SAPS and JMPD as well. We look forward to getting much valuable evidence from this investment, to assist the police in solving crimes as well as in resolving the street drinking problem.
• Daventry Court’s new LED floodlights at their end of 1st Street are illuminating the area nicely, which is helping to support the cameras as well as to deter bad behaviour.
• The behaviour on 1st Street in the past four weeks has again been a mixed bag. Some weekends were quiet, largely due to wet weather, but police had to be called in on other occasions to restore order. Parties are starting earlier in the day. A substantial number of women are participating.
• Romi Reinecke has submitted a report of CPF developments.
? Part of our JMPD service problem is that the NKRA area falls into multiple regions as far as JMPD is concerned. 1st Street is currently in Region E. We were advised that things will change, and that new staff are being appointed. Romi has been given a new JMPD contact person for Killarney – please email Romi on romi.reinecke@gmail.com to escalate issues.
? Romi and Clr Eleanor Huggett will try to set up a meeting with the new JMPD person next week to drive through the Killarney problem areas, informing the officer of our challenges and taking pictures etc.
? We can now report issues to JMPD via https://www.facebook.com/AsktheChiefJMPD/ If you escalate your issue together with the reference number it apparently works. Please try it, and give us feedback.
? SAPS Capt. Segal is to be thanked for providing valuable advice on our public-urination problem. For such an infraction, they need to be caught in the act by police in person in order to be charged, and photographs or video are not sufficient.
? Romi will meet soon with Mr Humphrey Nkosi, who is the City of Joburg expert on CCTV cameras, to share best practices. We have been promised a City of Joburg security camera as well, monitored by the City security control room, but there is no commitment on when this will arrive.
? The SAPS operational structures have been changed again. “Clusters” are once again named “Areas”, and we now fall into the Joburg Central Area.
? Ford Ranger double cabs are currently the stolen vehicle of choice – about 15 per day are hijacked or stolen in Gauteng alone. Please be vigilant and warn your friends and neighbours.
• Sgt Mdlolo will again be asked to follow up on the sector patrol van, where the dedicated cell-phone was still not working. The camera will be at its most valuable if the guard on duty can call the SAPS van as soon as a problem is noted, so that the van can arrive within minutes and hopefully catch the perpetrators in the act.
• Cllr Huggett undertook to remind JMPD once again of the need for them to co-operate with the SAPS in managing this problem. She also undertook to invite the mayoral committee member for the security portfolio to attend a future NKRA meeting.
• Sgt Mdlolo can be contacted on 071 675 6000. Please call her directly if there is any problem requiring the SAPS.
• When you notice a problem developing with a street party or similar, please first call the City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911 and ask the operator to log a call for you. Don’t let them just transfer you to JMPD, make sure they first log a call for you with a reference number. If JMPD don’t thereafter arrive within about 30 minutes, then contact the Councillor with your reference number and ask her to chase JMPD for service.
• Councillor Huggett can be contacted by the community at any time, by SMS or WhatsApp, on 071 785 8068.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• Cllr Huggett once again urged the community to keep on logging issues, as this is the only way that any action will happen.
• Cllr Huggett is dealing with street-lighting problems with City Power and others to resolve this matter properly, particularly in Riviera Road.
• There is still a serious problem in obtaining new dustbins as they have not been ordered from the suppliers. COJ are trying to resolve the problem with the supplier. Charles reported that a solution may be for buildings to buy the spares needed to keep the bins in working order e.g. lids and wheels. The contact details and price lists will be circulated together with the minutes of this meeting.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• It is a well-established fact that clean and attractive pavements will receive less litter and grime than untended and “abandoned” pavements. Residents are asked to continue with sweeping pavements please, as well as to remove weeds if there are any, and perhaps to plant seeds on pavements wherever they have a space.
• The Vision Tactical Security “Green Team” is helping to clean up litter and rubble in Killarney, as are the RCS street cleaner and the Vered street cleaner. Many thanks to all these community-spirited companies.
• Please report problems of potholes and pavements to the JRA at http://www.jra.org.za/find-and-fix-mobile-app, or call 011 375 5555. Please keep the reference numbers for follow-up.
• Please also use the number 0860 562 874 to report all road and pavement-related problems to the municipality. This includes all cases of rubble being dumped on pavements, potholes in roads or pavements, road signs in need of repair, streetlights not working, blocked storm-drains, or traffic lights out of order. You can also report all of these issues to the call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342. Please keep the reference numbers for follow-up.

8. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• The invoices for the 2019 membership subscriptions went out at the end of January. Seventeen buildings have paid their 2019 membership subscriptions to date.

9. GENERAL
• An email has been circulated by the “We Love Killarney” organisation, asking all residents to volunteer your time and skills to help with community-improvement projects. You can contact “We Love Killarney” at welovekillarney@gmail.com to volunteer. The NKRA supports all practical projects which will improve Killarney-Riviera.
• Residents are looking for recommendations please for suppliers of generators. If you have worked with a quality provider who gave you a good service, please would you let us know?

The meeting was closed, with thanks to the Killarney Mall for hosting us.

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 20 MARCH 2019 at 5pm

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342
JMPD Control Room – 011 758 9620
City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911
SAPS patrol van – 071 675 6001
If you get no response from the patrol van, please call 10111
Councillor Huggett – by SMS or WhatsApp – 071 785 8068