The NKRA is grateful for the support provided in the 4th Street park by our park sponsors RUSSELL FISHER PROPERTIES and VISION TACTICAL SECURITY and the KILLARNEY MALL, and for the street cleaning services provided by RCS SECURITY SERVICES.

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NKRA Communique – November 2021

Hi everyone

The Covid-19 pandemic is raging again, and South Africa is once again experiencing an increase in fatalities due to Covid. Although people who have been vaccinated are still getting infected, the vaccinations definitely do seem to reduce the severity of the infections. Hopefully this 4th Wave will burn itself out in another month or so, but meanwhile we need to all continue to observe social distancing and to wear masks in public – including in the corridors and lifts of our residential buildings. As always, you can go to https://www.gov.za/covid-19/ for detailed information.

Apart from the interminable Covid, we have experienced a mixed bag of developments this month. On the happy side of the ledger, we have benefitted from some very unexpected year-end municipal productivity. Most of our street markings were repainted this month. They seem to have done quite a decent job, so we can hope that these markings will last longer this time. This kind of work certainly does uplift the general appearance of the area. Many thanks to our ward councillor for constantly pushing our case.

The municipality also finally fixed the holes in the road outside Pick ‘n Pay, where the road was dug up ages ago for a burst water pipe to be repaired. Some other restorations have not yet been done, but we wait in hope. However in Riviera Road I noticed what appeared to be a sink-hole developing. It was near the intersection with 2nd Avenue, on the east-bound side of the road.

Chartwell are continuing to expand their pavement flower beds in 3rd Street. Many thanks to those trustees, and please keep up the good work! Killarney Court and Gardens have resurfaced their entire pavement in 1st Street, which has helped that block to look much better also. Many thanks to their trustees as well.

Killarney Hills, which is up on the ridge overlooking the Wilds, has been recognised for its heritage significance with an official Blue Plaque. The building was designed by the architect Monty Sack, for the sons of Isidore W. Schlesinger – the man who established Killarney, founded the film studios and built Whitehall Court as his personal office and residence. The penthouses at Killarney Hills were designed as the personal residences for Schlesinger’s sons. This building and its heritage was mentioned on the Heritage Portal, at https://www.theheritageportal.co.za/. These small steps all contribute to the on-going upliftment of the “brand” of Killarney, and we congratulate and thank the trustees of Killarney Hills for this effort.

The plants in the park are really flourishing from all the rain, and the Vaal Dam is officially full, which is something to be grateful for. Although the municipality is cutting the grass in the park, the grass cutting schedules have been impacted severely by all the rain, and the grass is now knee-high. Thank you to those various community members who donated seeds for the park.

While the park is a wonderful place to play with and exercise a dog, please remember that the municipal by-laws require dog owners to clean up after their pets. Unfortunately some people don’t clean up, leaving their mess on the ground for other people to step in. If you bring a dog to the park, please bring a plastic bag or two as well, and clean up after your dog. We did put up containers of plastic bags in the park, to help people who forgot to bring their own, but these containers were promptly vandalised. We therefore cannot guarantee that there will be a bag conveniently close at hand when your dog needs one, so please would you all continue to carry your own bags with you when you take your pets out on the streets.

We have noted with concern that on some street corners there is sometimes a profusion of “For Sale” signs and “To Let” signs. Per Clause 22 of the Advertising Signs by-laws, “such signs shall be limited to one sign per agent with a maximum of three signs per erf.” These forests of signs create a poor image for the suburb, they might create the impression that our properties are no longer desirable, and they might actually undermine the resale values of the sellers who are putting out those signs. Please would all sellers and trustees assist in keeping this under control.

A big new suggestion to consider for the new year – Green Pavements:

Many people have planted flower beds of various sizes on pavements, and have made their pavements look very nice indeed. However pavement gardens require a lot of labour, and regular watering. A slightly different idea is to use ordinary concrete or asphalt on the pavement, and then to simply paint it green. Of course the paint will wear off a bit over time, but it is quick and easy to do, and not particularly expensive. It is obviously not as good as real vegetation, but it does look much, much nicer than raw asphalt. If we choose the colour carefully, then when viewed from a passing car – or a high window – it might look a bit like a well-mowed lawn.

However the effect is not only visual. Green-painted surfaces reflect a lot more heat than black surfaces, which helps to cool the surrounding area, and make it more pleasant. As we endure successive heat waves, this is indeed something to think about. Several studies in the USA apparently found that painting a car-park green reduces the localised day-time temperature by up to 30 degrees.

Obviously we must use a non-slip paint, although a tarred pavement already has quite a rough and non-slip texture. Some websites say that an ordinary polymer-based, water-soluble acrylic paint is good enough, although it will need to be refreshed every few years like any other painted surface. However Jack’s Paint recommends that we use “road marking paint”, and they will mix a light green colour for us at R650 per 5 litre drum – which they think will cover about 30 square meters, depending on how smooth the tarred surface is. If anybody has tried this already, please would you share your experiences?

Unfortunately, there is no further progress to report on the Mall’s proposal to build an indoor taxi facility inside the former Toyota workshop space, and to relocate the illegal taxi rank in 1st Street off our streets. Even worse, the street drinking at that end of 1st Street took a sour turn this past week, when the illegal drinkers smashed the street dustbins out of pure vandalism. To solve this problem we need proper effective law enforcement, but this particular form of criminality does not seem to enjoy a very high priority. There are a number of security cameras focused on those pavements. Please could all the buildings around that area review their security camera footage, and see if you may perhaps have recorded any useful evidence?

Please continue to report these illegal drinking parties to the police on every occasion. The police don’t always respond, but sometimes they do, so it’s worth calling them. The more people who call in to report these issues, the better are our chances of getting action.

This type of anarchy usually spills over into contact crimes, such as purse snatching and phone snatching. Please take extra care with your possessions over the holiday season. If you do notice anything that looks like a crime in progress, please call your security company, as well as the SAPS on 10111 (or 112 from your cell phone). You can also contact the Killarney SAPS sector manager (Sergeant Mdlolo) on 082 355 5646.

We are finishing off the year with 34 buildings out of the 55 sectional title buildings in Killarney-Riviera being paid-up members of the NKRA – this is about 61.8% of the total. Many thanks indeed to all these buildings for your on-going support. The final list of the members for 2021 is as follows:

  1. Beverly Heights
  2. Biarritz
  3. Brenthurst Court
  4. Bretton Woods
  5. Canterbury Close
  6. Chartwell
  7. Chelston Hall
  8. Christina Court
  9. Cranwell Hall
  10. Daventry Court
  11. Devon Place
  12. Dumbarton Oaks
  13. Gleneagles
  14. Glenhof Gardens
  15. Greenhills
  16. Hampshire Mews
  17. Hatherley Hall
  18. Hyde Court
  19. Interlaken
  20. Killarney Court & Gardens
  21. Killarney Hills
  22. Killarney Park
  23. Killarney Village
  24. Kingsborough
  25. La Camargue
  26. Mentone Court
  27. Monviso
  28. Portofino
  29. Rapallo
  30. Riviera Mansions
  31. Riviera Villas
  32. Santa Margherita
  33. Sevenoaks
  34. The Rivieras

The invoices for the membership subscriptions for the 2022-2023 year will be sent out at the end of February next year. We would be very grateful for your support again next year.

I personally thank all the members of our community who have made various contributions to the upkeep and well-being of our suburb during this long and exhausting year. In particular I wish to recognise and appreciate the many humble security guards, who leave their own families to protect us and our families, even on the most important holidays.

As we celebrate the year-end holidays, we look forward to a fresh new year ahead, and a host of fresh opportunities to make the world a better place.

Best wishes to all, keep well, and keep safe.

Wayne Ford