MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 21st MAY 2025

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 21 MAY 2025 at 18H30

PRESENT:      Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Ismail Randeree (Castlerosse); Trish Terry (Gleneagles); Tracy Royal (Mediterranean); Mumtaz Ally (Riviera Mansions); Rachael Glaser (Earl’s Court); Mrs D Zakri (Bolton Hall).

1. WELCOME

• Wayne chaired the meeting. He opened the meeting and welcomed the attendees.

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Kim Robinson (Killarney Hills); Nadia Nikakhtar (Killarney Park); Eleanor Huggett (Councillor Ward 73).

3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting have been circulated to all attendees, and have been approved by them. The details thereof were incorporated into the monthly newsletter.

4.  STATUS OF OUR SUBURB, AND LIST OF ISSUES REQUIRING ACTION

• Pavement and street repairs –: Fixing all the serious damage in 2^nd Ave will require a lot of work, which will require us to close off the road for a day at least. Closing a road as busy as 2^nd Ave requires municipal permission, which in turn requires a wayleave application and other red-tape first. This is beyond us. We are therefore instead planning to fix the serious potholes only, in 2^nd Ave and 2^nd Street, and we are still waiting for JRA clearance for this level of work. We need to avoid attempting this work when it is very cold or when it is raining.
• Some residents did a walk-around with Cllr Huggett and Marvin Nkuna from CoJ, and he will also be added to the weekly report-list going forward.
• Representative for Community Policing Forum –: we do not yet have confirmation on our new representative.
• Improving lighting on the pavements –: On the 4^th Avenue bridge, car park in 7^th Street, and Riviera Road outside Daventry Court – Charles and Ismail are still planning to meet with Themba about what can be done on the Riviera Road pavement. In particular, the excavation for the new water meter in the ground years ago has created a dangerous hole which has not yet been filled. This needs a manhole to be built first, to protect access to the valves at the base of the hole. We are trying to have bricks and material donated, and we will try to build a manhole here ourselves.
• It was also proposed to paint around the rim of the completed manhole in bright colours, to improve visibility and thus safety – this could also be done for all the other manholes in the area. Included in this project would be to utilise the existing municipal paving stones to create a smooth and safe walkway down the middle of the pavement, and the space on either side would be left as garden – perhaps ivy or similar.
• Repainting street names on kerbs –: The final corrections have been requested, and this will be done as soon as the contractor has a gap. If he does not come soon, we will do the painting ourselves.
• Illegal hawkers, and illegal drinking on pavements -: Please keep taking photos, and reporting this to JMPD. The new law on CCTV cameras has been challenged in court, so it is currently NOT applicable. 
• On-going risks of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and pick-pockets -: There have been no reports recently of these crimes, but we will continue to alert all buildings, residents and visitors as best we can.
• Community upliftment initiative –: The “Themba Cleanup Project” is still clearing pavement bins on Wednesday and undertaking projects on Saturday. The agreed patching on Newtown Road will need a large load of cold-mix asphalt, and we are waiting for that to be delivered. The patching in 4^th Ave is also on-going. We are asking for donations of broken bricks, to facilitate this work. Please use rubble or sand to fix dangerous holes, please don’t ever use concrete, as this causes damage to the road surface. We will keep asking residents for suggestions for further projects.
• Community Street Walks -: The walk this weekend will specifically include visiting all existing pavement gardens. It seems that the weekend walks are more popular than the evening walks – perhaps due to the weather. We are still working on ways to improve publicity.
• NKRA Community Gardens project –: The installation of the irrigation system for the veggie-garden is in progress, but we are waiting for JCPZ to install the connection into the existing municipal water pipe at the ablution block. This project is being paid for with donations from residents. We are also raising money to extend and enlarge the veggie-garden. There is an Instagram page for updates on progress, which will be included in the next newsletter.
• Killarney Mall refurbishment progress -: We have no further news on the progress with the refurbishment project. We will communicate all developments as soon as we become aware.

5. NEW ISSUES

• There is a trend for the Uber’s to park on top of the pedestrian crossing at Clicks, while they are dropping off and picking up passengers. This causes big traffic issues for the cars behind them, as well as for pedestrians trying to cross the road at that crossing. We need the JMPD to help here, but that is unlikely to happen. We will ask the Mall to have their ambassadors intervene here where possible.
• The situation of the dog-poo in the veggie-garden is getting worse. People eat this produce, so we don’t want dogs defecating in that area if possible. The by-laws require dog-owners to clean up after their animals, and we did put up signs to remind dog owners of their responsibilities, but it seems that a substantial portion of dog owners cannot be bothered. This blatant lack of consideration is despicable.
• The Library is collecting quality used books, to expand the collection in the library as well as for resale to raise funds. We are asking for donations of suitable books. Please drop them off inside the library, or through the return slot in the library door.
• This book sale will be our first project to raise the profile of library. We have requested the Mall to assist us with putting up advertising posters etc inside the Mall. We also discussed painting around the entrance to the library to make it more visible, but this requires higher authorisation. Our Friends of the Killarney Library group are now connected with the broader Joburg Friends of the Library, so a S18A tax-deduction certificate will be available for donations.
• A number of the large concrete pavement bins have been removed by the owners thereof, to be used somewhere else. In order to have pavement bins, we need sponsors. This will be pursued with resident estate agents in particular. We specifically need more bins in Main Road, where the Ubers and the recyclers generate a lot of litter. There is a surplus of bins opposite Splice – we will ask the Splice trustees to assist us in spacing these bins out a bit more, so as to move some of these bins a bit further down the road.
• The Night WALKR’s are compiling lists of streetlights that no longer work. It was noted that a number of these lights have recently started to work again.

The Meeting closed at 19h41

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Our next meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 18 JUNE 2025 AT 18H30

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

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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

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

To report a water leak: 24-hour hotline – 0860 562 874 or 011 688 1699