NKRA Communique – June 2025

Hi everyone

We held our June NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 18 June 2025. 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 July 2025. All residents, owners and employees of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to participate. An agenda with a Microsoft Teams meeting link will be circulated in due course.

The Friends of the Killarney Library

The Friends of the Killarney Library are holding a book sale at the Killarney Mall on 4-5 July, 10:00am – 4:30pm, in order to raise funds for the upliftment of our Killarney branch of the Johannesburg Public Library. The sale will be held in the open area outside the PNA Store. All books will be sold at R20 each, and there will be a credit card machine available. The books to be sold are largely pre-owned books which have been donated by the community for this purpose. Please see the poster at the end of this newsletter, and please help us to spread the word about the book-sale.

We will be holding further book-sales in the future, and so we are asking also for additional books of all kinds to be donated please. You can hand donations in to the librarian during office hours, or you can deposit them through the book-return slot in the front door of the library if the library is closed. To become a member of the library is free. The Friends of the Killarney Library are looking for more volunteers, and you can join their WhatsApp group at https://chat.whatsapp.com/KrYlArsPHSRAiyoGHerC0s

Cultural Entertainment

Killarney Mall is hosting some musical events, free to the public. The Grand Piano Concert Series is at 12-noon every Wednesday, at the Food Court Upper Level. They are also hosting Social Sundays, from 12-noon to 3pm, starting from 27 July, on the Food Court Lower Level.

The NKRA Community Gardens Project

Some fruit trees were recently donated by the Department of Agriculture. Some of these will be planted in the park, and others may be distributed to other locations. We are still fundraising to build raised beds to extend the productive area. These raised beds will cost R500 each to build, and we would be grateful for additional donations please. 

A new irrigation system has been installed to support the food-growing project in the park, paid for by community donations. The point of having the irrigation system, is actually to reduce the amount of water used. In the beginning, volunteers were watering these beds with the long hosepipe. This hosepipe is heavy to drag around, the water taps are on the far side of our huge park, and therefore the veggies were not being watered very often. Consequently, when they did get watered, the soil was usually saturated. With the new irrigation system, we can easily water whenever we want, so in future the veggies will be irrigated regularly, using a small amount of water each time. This is a much more efficient use of the water. We ask park visitors please DO NOT turn on the water yourselves. There is a calculated watering schedule, and additional waterings will do more harm than good.

There has also been a proposal to repaint the boundary wall in the area of the veggie garden, as well as an intention to repaint the various park benches which were defaced by vandals recently. If anybody is willing and able to participate, or to donate suitable paint and materials, please do get in touch.

The Community Gardeners meet in the park on the last Sunday on every month, for a picnic, some planning and some good conversation in the fresh air. They extend an invitation to the rest of the community to enjoy the park with them. Bring a book, bring some snacks and enjoy a “picnic with a purpose”. 

The NKRA Community Gardens team welcomes additional volunteers. Please contact the team at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cjh3eJl57pv1XcoQ7OEBj9. They also have an Instagram page, at this link.

Street and Pavement Repairs

The municipality has recently done some critically-needed repairs to the roads in our area, for which we are grateful.

However, much more needs to be done. One of our greatest concerns at present is the need to improve the safety on our pavements. There is currently a dangerous hole in the Riviera Road pavement, outside Daventry Court. This was caused when a new water meter was installed years ago, and as usual the Joburg Water team did not backfill or reinstate the pavement. We cannot simply fill it in, because there are valves at the bottom and access needs to be protected. A manhole has to be built here. Charles has arranged for the Daventry Court maintenance team to build a manhole for us, and we are trying to obtain the needed building materials via donations. The meeting agreed to go forward with this project, and to assist with obtaining the materials if needed.

We have tried putting bigger globes into the light-fittings on the Daventry Court boundary wall, but it’s not helping much. It has therefore been agreed to repair the walkway on that pavement, by levelling it off, and creating a smooth and safe pathway using the existing paving stones. We will then try to plant a garden on the open patches of ground as well.

Our project to repaint the street names on kerbs is now complete. The final corrections have been finished, and this project is now closed.

The required major repairs in 2nd Ave and 2nd Street are still on hold while we wait for authorisation from JRA to proceed. We are aware that a group of Sunninghill residents did a similar project recently to patch up potholes in their area, and they ran into legal problems. The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has stated that it is against the law for residents to fix the roads ourselves, and that pothole repairs or alterations to roads must not be carried out without written permission from the Council. Unapproved roadwork can cause further damage, and possible legal issues. If we want do roadworks on potholes, we must apply for a wayleave – an official permit issued by JRA. This will require the payment of a fee, and permission may still be refused. Instead, the JRA encourages residents to report all problems and defects to the City of Johannesburg or JRA through the official channels. NKRA funding is available, and the contractor is standing by, so we are still working with the ward councillor to get permission from JRA if possible.

We are still allowed to fill dangerous potholes with sand and stones, to reduce the risk to cars, scooters, cyclists and pedestrians alike. It was also agreed that the NKRA should continue to address the pavement holes in 4th Ave ourselves, by backfilling the holes and compacting them. We will thereafter seek to pave over them – with asphalt or bricks as is appropriate from case to case.

The Oxford Road crash barrier outside Moore Accountants was destroyed by a car accident a few weeks ago. It has been reported repeatedly to the JRA, but thus far there has been no response. This crash barrier is an important safety feature, it gets hit frequently, and in its absence any future such crash will come through the boundary wall into the premises of Moore Accountants.

The Community Upliftment Initiative

The Community Upliftment Initiative continues to add lots of value. Themba Mhlope visits Killarney every Wednesday to clear the accumulated pavement rubbish, and every Saturday to do other upliftment projects, such as clearing weeds and filling potholes with rubble, etc. There are a lot of holes to be filled, and they need more rubble. If you have sand or rubble available to donate, please do get in touch with us. Most recently, Themba and his team have cleared huge amounts of litter from the 7^th Street pavements. They also tried to relocate some pavement rubbish bins, to areas with greater need. These bins are very heavy, and they were unable to load them onto the bakkie, but they managed to roll a bin along the ground instead. If you have suggestions for future upliftment projects, please communicate your suggestions to us at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn.

Taxi Rank Project

The Killarney Mall is now officially for sale. The current owners are therefore freezing their promised refurbishment project, and we will have to wait for the new owners to take control before we can hope to see some progress with the taxi facility. We are obviously extremely disappointed by this development. For over a decade we have worked in good faith with the Killarney Mall Centre Managers to solve this problem which has blighted our community for so long. They repeatedly promised us that their consultants and experts were working hard on the problem, and that feasible solutions were being prepared. To now hear that the entire matter is once again being frozen, and that the new owners will eventually start over again with their own ideas and experts, is massively disheartening. It is a particular concern that the time-frames are always so vague. The identity of the prospective buyer is still confidential, in terms of a non-disclosure agreement, but the current owners have assured us that they will communicate openly once the contract has been signed.

The Community Night WALKR’s street walks

The Community Night WALKR’s street walks continue to be held, despite the current freezing weather. Attendance at the evening Community Street Walks is being negatively affected by the cold, but a few hardy residents continue in these endeavours. These community social walks add a lot of additional value simply by maintaining a visible presence on the street. There are now also daytime walks on Sundays, which have been more popular. You can join in at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

Safety and Security project

The problem of illegal hawkers, and illegal drinking on pavements, continues to continue, despite the cold weather. We have asked the Mall to help, but their private security company has no authority on a public road or pavement. People are allowed to use the pavements for leisure activities, provided they comply with the by-laws, but some people treat the by-laws with contempt, and the JMPD does little about it. The party-goers are largely resident in Killarney, and many of them live in circumstances where they cannot host large parties in their homes. There is nowhere else for them to go.

The risk of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and pick-pockets, also continues. The Uber customers are a major target. We continue to ask all buildings to warn residents and visitors of these risks, and to send a security guard out onto the pavement whenever a resident or visitor is waiting to be collected – particularly when it involves an Uber.

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. The two Vision Tactical response vehicles are on 072 830 5305, and on 071 570 5173. We thank Vision Tactical for this community-minded service.

Membership

“Membership” of the NKRA is voluntary, but for residential buildings it requires an annual membership “subscription” of R50 per each unit in the building (with a maximum of R4,000 per building). In the case of businesses, we request a flat amount of R4,000 per annum. Only the official representatives of member buildings can vote on resolutions, but all property owners, residents and employees of businesses in the suburbs of Killarney and Riviera are welcome to attend and participate in our public meetings.  If your trustees have changed since last year, please would you let us have the contact details of the current trustees.

So far 33 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have paid their 2025 subscriptions – this is about 60% of the total. The list of the members so far is as follows:

• Berkeley Square
• Beverley Heights
• Biarritz
• Bolton Hall
• Brenthurst Court
• Bretton Woods
• Canterbury Close
• Castlerosse
• Chelston Hall
• Christina Court
• Cranwell Hall
• Daventry Court
• Devon Place
• Dumbarton Oaks
• Earl’s Court
• Gleneagles
• Glenhof Gardens
• Greenhills
• Hampshire House
• Hampshire Mews
• Highbury
• Hyde Court
• Killarney Village
• Knightsbridge
• Monviso
• Park Avenue
• Portofino
• Rapallo
• Riviera Mansions
• Riviera Villas
• Sloane Square
• Splice
• The Rivieras

Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support, and also to the various individual people who make personal donations as well. This funding enables us to undertake various 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 help us implement this vision, please do share them urgently. Otherwise, our primary focuses for 2025 will continue to be as follows:

• Managing the squatter and hawker and taxi and street-drinking problems in Killarney;
• Reducing the various crime risks, including specifically the risk of pickpockets and phone-snatching on the pavements, and improving the street-lighting;
• Building up and sustaining the “Night WALKR’s” social walking group;
• Expanding the Community Gardens Project to grow food for persons in need;
• Undertaking small upliftment projects where possible, including cleaning and beautifying the pavements and other visible public spaces, expanding the existing Themba Upliftment Projects by means of additional fundraising, and improving relationships with the trolley-recyclers.

We are happy to receive photographs 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 July 2025. 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 and Riviera?

Keep well, and keep safe.

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City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911

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

To report a water leak: fault@jwater.co.za