NKRA Communique – May 2025

Hi everyone

We held our May NKRA public meeting via the internet on Wednesday 21 May 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 18 June 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 are holding a book sale at the Killarney Mall on 4-5 July, 10:00am – 4:30pm, in order to raise funds to use for the upliftment of our little library. The books to be sold are largely pre-owned books which have been donated by the community for this purpose, and we are asking also for additional books of all kinds to be donated before the end of the month if possible. The sale will be held in the open area outside the PNA Store. Everyone is encouraged to come shopping, and all books will be sold at R20 each.

We hope to hold regular book sales in the future. 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 if the library is closed. This small library is inside the Killarney Mall, on the banking level, with an entrance leading off directly from the car park to the left of the main entrance into the Mall. To become a member of the library is free, and all you need is to produce an ID book and a proof of residence. The Friends of the Killarney Library are a part of the broader Friends of the Johannesburg Public Library, and you can join their efforts via the WhatsApp group at https://chat.whatsapp.com/KrYlArsPHSRAiyoGHerC0s

The NKRA Community Gardens volunteers have installed an irrigation system to support the food-growing project in the park. This was paid for with donations made by various members of the community. This upgrade is a game-changer for our volunteers and for our veggies — it helps us to use less water, it greatly reduces the amount of manual labour required, and it ensures consistent watering throughout the growing season, come rain or shine. We offer a huge thank-you to everyone who helped to plan, fund, and install this valuable and much-needed addition. We’re already seeing the benefits, so please all visit the garden in the park and see it in action — or better yet, come lend a hand and help us to keep this space blooming!

The NKRA Community Gardens team are planning to expand the veggie-beds in the park, by building 20 new raised 1.5m x 3m beds using concrete blocks as retaining borders. We are inviting individuals, families, buildings or other groups to sponsor a garden bed for R500 each, to help us to reach our goal. We have also secured a sponsor for the compost. Donors can help plant and decorate their sponsored bed, if they wish. We are also establishing a “seed library” at the Killarney Public Library, where new gardeners can obtain veggie-seeds for free.

The NKRA Community Gardens team always needs additional volunteers. Please contact the team at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Cjh3eJl57pv1XcoQ7OEBj9. They also have an Instagram page, at https://www.instagram.com/kr_community_garden?igsh=eWt6bjlnMDB2aHdp

On a less happy note, the situation of the dog-poo in the veggie garden is getting worse. People eat this produce, so we don’t want dogs urinating or defecating in that area if possible. The municipal 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 lack of consideration is distressing.

The Community Upliftment Initiative continues to add 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. We are asking for donations of broken bricks, to facilitate this work. Residents are invited to submit your suggestions for future upliftment projects as well. If you would like to help with these upliftment projects, or if you have specific suggestions for new projects, please contact us at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KA4ejvnpF6pGjFg9SJ3KEn.

Our suburb is still suffering from many unfinished street repairs, as well as many rapidly deteriorating potholes. The NKRA has therefore planned a large street-repair project, focused primarily on 2^nd Avenue and 2^nd Street. However, we are concerned about reports that the municipality has sued residents who have repaired potholes themselves, and while we always use a service provider who works according to the JRA quality requirements, we don’t want to take a chance of being sued. We have repeatedly requested clarity on this from the ward councillor, but we are still waiting for a formal response. Meanwhile, pavement repairs can continue, and it is safe to continue putting loose rubble and sand in the deeper potholes to improve safety, while we wait. Please only use rubble or sand to fix dangerous holes, please don’t ever use concrete, as this actually causes damage to the road surface.

The excavation for the replacement water meter on the Riviera Road pavement has created a dangerous hole which has not yet been filled. This repair needs a manhole to be built first, so as to protect access to the valves at the base of the hole.  We are trying to have bricks and material donated, and then 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, so as to improve visibility in poor light, and thus improve safety. If this is successful, we will also paint a bright warning border around all the other open manholes in the area. Finally, this project will also utilise the remaining municipal paving stones to create a narrow but smooth and safe walkway down the middle of the pavement, to compensate for the bad lighting at night.

The Community Night WALKR’s street walks continue to be held, despite the current freezing weather. 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, including around The Wilds. You can join at: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DsR92XsjIU49JLvv1pAHCI

The Killarney Mall has still not completed the long-running planning phase of their long-awaited refurbishment project. We are aware that the current owners are planning to sell the Killarney Mall, and we hope that this will not delay the required refurbishment any further. We are pressing for more information, and we will inform the community as soon as we receive meaningful information from the Mall Management.

We still have an on-going risk of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and pickpockets. We continue to encourage all buildings to place private security guards outside on the pavement whenever a resident or visitor is standing out there – particularly if they are waiting for an Uber and have cell-phones in their hands. Private security guards can make a citizen’s arrest if they witness a crime being committed.

Reporting illegal drinking and liquor trading to the JMPD helps a lot to maintain safety and security.  Reports can be made to the JMPD on 0860 562 874. The more reports that are made, the more likely it is that the JMPD will respond, and at least investigate our complaints.

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” 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 32 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera have paid their 2025 subscriptions – this is about 58% 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 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 people who make personal donations as well. This support enables us to undertake small 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 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 18 June 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