MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 17th JULY 2019

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE
NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION
HELD AT SHOP 56 OF THE KILLARNEY MALL
ON WEDNESDAY 17 JULY 2019 AT 17H00

PRESENT: Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Ruth Kuper (Gleneagles); Vivienne Cobbett (Biarritz); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Margaret Urban (Hanover Gate); Mike Kalk (Brenthurst Court); Floh Thiele (La Carmague); Carmen Roets (Dumbarton Oaks); Sergeant NH Mdlolo (SAPS); Dimitri Clayton (Brenthurst Court); Adrienne Egbers (Cranwell Hall); Ahmed Nanabhay (Knightsbridge); Annica Marincowitz (Chartwell); Colonel Magudulela (SAPS); Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Franky Auberach (Killarney Park); Hajee Hoosen (Sloane Square); Hussein Dudhia (Hampshire Mews); Reubina Wadee (Killarney Park); Rookeya Bawa (Santa Margherita); Sgt. Tenza (JMPD); Yaseen Theeba (Vision Tactical Security); Shameera Angania.

1. WELCOME
Wayne welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2. APOLOGIES RECEIVED
Harry Rutenberg (Sevenoaks); Julie Wilson (Killarney Hills); Mohammed Paruk (Hanover Gate);
Dalien Rutenberg (Glenhof Gardens); Tony Mantle (Gleneagles); Dean Dada (RCS Security), George Kymdell (NAMA).

3. DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT
• We will strive to keep the discussions short and relevant, so as to finish by 6pm.

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
• The Minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read, and were approved.

5. SECURITY FEEDBACK / SECTOR CRIME FORUM
• Sergeant Mdlolo reported the crime statistics for the last month, as follows: Hi-jacking 3; Armed robbery 3; Theft of Vehicles 5; Theft out of Vehicles 2; Common robbery 1; Burglary 2; Theft general 2; Shoplifting 2; Fraud 3; Malicious damage to property 2.
• Unfortunately, it seems there has been a sudden spate of crimes in the last week or so. A number of these crimes were “contact crimes”, where the victim was present and at risk. This is unusual for our area, and is a very worrying development. The police are responding, and our two main security companies are aware of the added risk and are advising their guards accordingly. Please would you all alert your own security companies as well.
• Everyone is asked to take extra precautions while the SAPS get on top of this, and the Mall jacks up their own internal security as well. The recommendation is for us to not carry valuables if this can be avoided, and to not wear conspicuous jewellery, as this attracts the attention of the robbers. Also, watch out for pickpockets at the Mall, and on the pavements. Try not to have your phone in your hand while you are walking along, as this gives a “snatcher” an easy opportunity – the criminals have been targeting such people specifically.
• It seems that the crime statistics reports are sometimes incomplete, in that some victims report crimes at other police stations, and some victims do not report crimes at all. It was also noted that the police have a special unit to investigate “trio crimes”, which are carjacking, robbery at residential premises and robbery at non-residential premises. The statistics from these particular investigations do not always get communicated to the main database timeously.
• We were again asked to refrain from giving money to beggars on the street. While most of these people really are needy, some of them also work as spotters for criminal gangs. Beggars in Killarney have been seen using cell-phones on the pavements, which seems to be an unlikely investment for a person who is struggling to buy food.
• It was noted that nobody can be given “permission” to break the law, so the laws regarding beggars and hawkers and homeless people and car guards etc must all be enforced equally.
• Cllr Huggett noted that the Inner City Clean-up project was having the side-effect of pushing a lot of criminals out of the CBD, and that our own sudden increase in crimes might be an unintended consequence thereof.
• SAPS and JMPD both undertook to keep a close eye on the 1st Street area, as well as the growth of the problem into 2nd Street.
• We have still not received any responses to the questions that were raised to the Mall owners at the community meeting in May, about their intention to build a taxi rank on our pavements. The leading official at CityProp has been on leave, but we will make contact with her as soon as we can.
• However Wayne has spent hours at the municipal planning department, and it is clear that the Mall has two development projects currently on the table – one has been approved by the municipal planning department, and one is still “pending”. If the municipal regulations do indeed require that every Mall has a taxi facility, as everyone is telling us, then these projects would explain why the Mall is under such pressure to make a taxi facility happen in Killarney. Wayne has been unable to get a copy of the development conditions thus far, but has been given the name and number of a senior official in the planning department who apparently handles such issues. Cllr Huggett knows the official in question and will assist to make contact with her. The investigation will continue, until we get the answers we need.
• We have been informed by the Sandton CPF that we can get two JMPD officers dedicated to our area, if we provide a sponsored car for them to use. This is apparently already happening in Sandton with good effect. We have lodged a written request at JMPD to follow this course of action, and we are awaiting their response. If we get a favourable response, we will try to obtain sponsorship for this project.
• Melissa and Floh attended the July meeting of the Hillbrow Community Policing Forum. They reported back inter alia that the municipal CCTV roll-out will definitely include Killarney, but that the SAPS were unable to give confirmed dates and time-frames.
• JMPD was again asked to address the growing community of homeless people who are living on the embankment of the motorway near the 4th Ave bridge, some of whom are damaging fences and entering buildings. Another group sometimes gathers on the pavement of the golf course in Riviera Road, near the on-ramp to the M1N, and yet another group is living in the park in Oxford Road, towards the on-ramp to the M1S.
• Sgt Mdlolo can be contacted on 071 675 6000. Please call her directly if there is any problem requiring the SAPS.
• When you notice a problem developing with a street party or similar, please first call the City emergency hotline on 011 375 5911 and ask the operator to log a call for you. Don’t let them just transfer you to JMPD, make sure they first log a call for you with a reference number. If JMPD don’t thereafter arrive within about 30 minutes, then contact the Councillor with your reference number and ask her to chase JMPD for service.
• Councillor Huggett can be contacted by the community at any time, by SMS or WhatsApp, on 071 785 8068.

6. FEEDBACK FROM COUNCILLORS
• Cllr Huggett reported that she does regular inspections of her ward, together with an official from the Urban Management department. She asked that residents take photos of trouble-spots, and send them to her.

7. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
• The ablution building in the park has a number of maintenance requirements, which have been reported to City Parks. Cllr Huggett will follow up on these for us. Nolicent has cleaned the accumulated leaves off the roof and gutters, but more leaves obviously fall all the time.
• RCS Security have completed the project to clean up the pavement in 7th Street along the motorway, including removing weeds, and trimming the trees and shrubs. The problem will obviously recur, but it looks much better for now. It was resolved to pay the agreed fee of R3362 to RCS Security for this work done.
• The long-standing street cleaning project around the taxi rank, which was sponsored by Vered Estates, has been terminated due to a lapsing of the sponsorship. We have to pay for the rest of July as a notice period, but after that the sweeping will stop. If we can find a new sponsor, the project can and will be revived. Christa Roller of Vered was thanked for her many years of sponsoring this project, which has added enormous value to the community.
• The parallel project which empties overflowing pavement dustbins, sponsored by RCS Security, will be requested to attend to the pavement bins at the taxi rank as well. However they will not have the time to do the same detailed sweeping as before.
• A number of our pavements are in a poor state, caused by poor quality municipal repairs as well as the extensive trenching by multiple fibre optic companies. This poses a safety risk to pedestrians, especially at night. We do not have the resources to repair all the pavements which need attention, but it was resolved to fix some of the most serious issues, based on safety criteria. We will start by creating a list of problem areas – please let us know if you are aware of a dangerous pavement, and we will investigate.
• Floh has a contact who can make replacement manhole covers. Please also include missing manhole covers on the list, as well as manholes where the lids are upside down and which pose a safety hazard to pedestrians.
• The recent water repair excavation at the intersection of 4th Ave and 3rd Street is in a very dangerous position, and needs to be completed urgently to avoid accidents. Cllr Huggett will follow this up with Joburg Water.
• Please would all residents continue to report problems on roads and pavements to the JRA at http://www.jra.org.za/find-and-fix-mobile-app, or call 011 375 5555. Please keep the reference numbers for follow-up.
• Please also use the number 0860 562 874 to report all road and pavement-related problems to the municipality. This includes all cases of rubble being dumped on pavements, potholes in roads or pavements, road signs in need of repair, streetlights not working, blocked storm-drains, or traffic lights out of order. You can also report all of these issues to the call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342. Please keep the reference numbers for follow-up.

8. FINANCE AND MEMBERSHIP
• There have been no changes in membership since the last meeting.

9. GENERAL
• Yaseen Theba of Vision Tactical Security was sincerely thanked for the efforts of his Green Team in helping to clean up the local communities.

The meeting was closed, with thanks to the Killarney Mall for hosting us.

Our next meeting will be held on
WEDNESDAY 21 AUGUST 2019 at 5pm

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

JMPD call centre hotline number – 080 872 3342
JMPD Control Room – 011 758 9620
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