MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 15th JULY 2026

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING OF

THE NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 15 JULY 2026 at 18H30

PRESENT:   Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Rafaeel Dockrat (Hillside Village); Mithun Kalan (Hillside Village); Trish Terry (Gleneagles); Kim Robinson (Killarney Hills); Ian Morison (Killarney Park); Amber Cheng (The Rivieras); Nadia Nikakhtar (Killarney Park); Leon Mare (Castlerosse);

1. WELCOME

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

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

Eleanor Huggett (Councillor Ward 73); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Debbi Schultz (Bretton Woods); Eben Keun (Greenhills).

3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting have been circulated to all attendees. There were no suggestions for amendments. The minutes were approved.

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

• Pavement repair projects -: Since the last meeting, Charles and his team have repaired pavements in Riviera Road, outside Mentone Court, Martindale Mews and Killarney Court. They have also done repairs in 3^rd Street outside Dumbarton Oaks, and in 7^th Street outside Castlerosse. The next goal will be to backfill the excavations in 3^rd Avenue cnr 9^th Street, and 3^rd Avenue cnr 7^th Street. A smell of sewerage was noted in 3^rd Avenue.
• This work has been greatly helped by Castlerosse providing storage for the materials – many thanks to Leon and the Castlerosse trustees for this valuable assistance.
• We are still pursuing the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, for their promised assistance. If the Thabo Mbeki Foundation does not assist us as promised, then we will need to attend to those asphalt pavements as well, which will cost a lot.
• Our funding is not bottomless, so we will need to reduce spending on materials until we have clarity from the Foundation. Once the above projects are completed, we will focus for a while on backfilling potholes and excavations with rubble.
• Potholes and excavations in the streets –: JRA tells us that they are repairing potholes in our area as and when they can, but for reinstatements of excavations, they must first wait for Joburg Water and Egoli Gas and City Power etc to notify them that all the underlying work is finished. In several cases, this has not yet happened. Specifically, the Egoli Gas repair in 7^th Street at the circle, is definitely not yet finished, and more digging will be required.
• Meanwhile, JRA will not allow other people to do repairs, because if something subsequently goes wrong, we will all be sued. We need to be patient a bit longer. They promised to send us a regular report on progress.
• If a hole is dangerous, we can fill it up temporarily with sand or rubble to improve safety, provided the “fix” can easily be removed when the repair crew arrives. Please use material that cannot cause damage to tyres, etc.
• Frans will help to move rubble from Killarney Park Apartments to the park ablution block, for Charles to use in his backfilling activities.
• Clean-up projects -: A big cleanup was undertaken at Newtown Avenue on 11 July. Some residents were assisted by Themba and his crew, as well as six workers hired from RCS Security, a skip arranged by RCS Security, and security support from Vision Tactical Security. PikiTup came the next day with a big truck to help remove extra bags of refuse.
• Many problems were noted on the site There was a lot of rubbish spilling onto the onramp. The cleaners noted several squatters, and shacks. They gathered photographic evidence of the squatting, as well as photographic evidence of extensive theft and stripping of underground cables, a lot of drug needles, many cell phones and handbags and backpacks, and damage to a municipal water pipe, among other concerns.
• The intention is to follow this project with regular weed removals. Vision Tactical will help to monitor the site, together with SAPS.
• PikiTup workers are scared of the squatters, and they want JMPD protection.
• Fence repair along Newtown Avenue -: This repair will cost around R12,000. The main objective of this repair is to improve the safety and security for people walking in this road, and for other motorists and residents in the area. It will also help to reduce the amount of littering and dumping on the motorway embankment.
• The fence has been damaged over time by vandals and criminals, and by simple weathering, as well as in places by the municipal trees that grow on the embankment. These trees have now been pruned by the municipality.
• We don’t know how long it will take before the fence is damaged again. We can try to keep the trees under control, but the behaviour of vandals and criminals is unpredictable. It has been around 2 years since we last repaired the fence, but during that time people had free access to the embankment through the hole in the corner of the car park. There is an intention to install a steel gate to seal this gap, and this will change the dynamic.
• The intention is for these gate keys to be kept at Castlerosse, which is the closest building to the car park.
• It was suggested to give gate keys to numerous people to permit access to the embankment, to minimise future damage to the fence. This will need to be considered carefully.
• The resolution to fix the fence was passed unanimously by all attending. In addition, the buildings of Knightsbridge, Santa Margherita, Greenhills and Cranwell Hall had all indicated their support also.
• It was noted that we should inspect and service the fence regularly, and also prune the trees regularly, as well as maintain the pavement gardens.
• Community Policing Forum –: We have sent the CPF and the SAPS a letter reporting what was found during the cleanup project. The letter included photographic evidence. We will continue to request SAPS patrols of the area, as well as in the rest of Killarney-Riviera, particularly around the illegal taxi rank.
• 5. NEW ISSUES
• Many of the streetlights in Newtown Avenue have been vandalised, and the wiring stolen. It has been proposed to install solar streetlights on the municipal poles. This requires municipal permission, which is not easy to get. The Jozi My Jozi organisation has obtained authorisation to replace streetlights with solar lights, and we have approached them to assist us with this. Our participation will be based largely on affordability. It was also noted that large trees could shield the solar panels and hinder charging, or block the light from reaching the ground.
• Charles reported that the old man who was living at a bus shelter, was injured in a fire at his shelter, and went to hospital. He has not yet returned.
• There are still multiple water leaks in the area. It was suggested to involve Asanda Matlhare of the Rosebank Killarney Gazette, whose reporting has had a positive effect in the past. She has already published the work done by the cleanup team.
• A rock garden is being created on the pavement of Newtown Avenue, near the Sanlam office building. A number of suitable rocks were donated to us by a building in Cyrildene. This project aims to uplift the vicinity, which is an entrance to Killarney, as well as to deter the reclaimers who litter on that site, and the homeless people who sometimes sleep on that site.
• It was noted that the damaged boundary wall of Martindale Mews in 1^st Street has finally been repaired, with new bricks and plaster. Hopefully it will soon be painted as well. Meanwhile, this repair has made a huge positive difference to the appearance and feel of 1^st Street.

The meeting closed at 19h31.

Our next meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 19 AUGUST 2026 AT 18H30

PLEASE SHARE THESE MINUTES WITH OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

New Killarney-Riviera Association – www.nkra.org.za

Ward Councillor Eleanor Huggett – eleanorhuggett@gmail.com and 071 785 8068

Service Delivery Reporting Template – https://www.nkra.org.za/issue-reporting-templates/

Link to Community WhatsApp Group – https://www.nkra.org.za/whatsapp-link/