MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 17th SEPTEMBER 2025

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER 2025 at 18H30

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PRESENT:      Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); Floh Thiele (La Camargue); Ismail Randeree (Castlerosse); Tracy Royal (Mediterranean); Ian Morison (Killarney Park); Trish Terry (Gleneagles); Lindi Metz (Killarney Park); Eleanor Huggett (Councillor Ward 73).

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1. WELCOME

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

2.  APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Kerry Barton-Hobbs (The Rivieras); Nadia Nikakhtar (Killarney Park); The Brenthurst Court trustees.

3. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES, AND MATTERS ARISING

• The minutes of the previous meeting have been circulated to all attendees, and have been approved by them. The details thereof were incorporated into the monthly newsletter.

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

• Pavement and street repairs –: We still have had no response from the JRA to our request to be allowed to conduct our own repairs on potholes in our streets, so we are still in a gridlock on this issue. Councillor Huggett stated that there is a municipal budget for re-tarring streets, but that none of this budget has been allocated to Ward 73. Cllr Huggett has identified a new JRA official who has been helpful and receptive, and Wayne has already sent her an email to open a dialogue. We have money standing ready to conduct these repairs, and we are still hopeful that we will eventually have some success on this.
• It was noted that the repair of roads in Johannesburg appears to be prioritised on a totally random basis, which does not appear to be related to how busy the road is, or how badly it has deteriorated.
• Pavement repairs -: a few big repair projects are needed, in instances where large holes have been excavated by the municipality to repair pipes or cables, and these holes have not been repaired properly afterward. Residents have not been banned from restoring pavements, and the NKRA is continuing to work on this list of problem issues. Charles has made major progress on the pavement in Riviera Road outside Daventry Court. The remaining work will involve some costs for casual labour and materials, of an estimated R12,800. This budget was approved by the meeting, subject to a second vote after it has been publicised in the newsletter.
• It was noted that this work falls under the definition of an upliftment project, so the upliftment team leadership can also be asked to consider providing funding for this further work.
• Once the paving on this pavement has been made safe for pedestrians, we will look at planting hardy succulent plants along the borders as well, to make the area more attractive.
• The next project will be the two major excavations in 4^th Avenue, on the pavement of Bretton Woods. These excavations both block the pavement completely, forcing pedestrians to walk in the street. When it starts to rain, these areas will both be mud-baths, and thus even more unsafe to walk across. Because the excavations in both cases also dug up the edge of the road, and displaced the kerb-stones, there is also the risk that rainwater run-off will erode the soil, and create an even bigger hazard. This danger has been reported many times to JRA, and we are still hoping for a positive answer.
• The immediate idea is to make this stretch of pavement as safe as possible for pedestrians, by levelling it off and replacing the paving bricks as best we can. We will not be able to repair the kerb-stones just yet, so this project will need to be implemented as a two-stage process. Wayne and Nolicent will make a start on this, aiming to create a safe pathway for pedestrians, and to minimise the washaway of soil in the near future. We might need to hire a paving company or a builder to rebuild the kerbs.
• Proposed new community upliftment initiatives –:  
• More pavement rubbish bins -: This is already in progress. Wayne spoke with the company that holds the contract with PikiTup for the outdoor-advertising bins. They offered to provide us with more bins, but this requires a process with the municipality first, and no time frames are available yet. There is also no clarity yet on whether we are allowed to put our own private bins on the pavements. It has been noted that we probably need to have a wayleave for this, and the councillor reported that in Norwood, PikiTup is inclined to avoid emptying these privately-owned bins. It was also noted that PikiTup is not emptying the official pavement bins regularly to begin with.
• Mature trees in the park -: These jacarandas have not been pruned for many years, and a number of these trees now have dead and rotting branches – some of which are very large and heavy. When these break off, they will pose a serious danger. This has been reported often to JCPZ, but nothing has been done so far. It was proposed to hire a private arborist to inspect these trees, and to make a formal written recommendation, in the hopes that this might spur some action from JCPZ. Floh volunteered to contact multiple arborists, and to get quotes for such an inspection.
• Park benches -: Three benches need repairs, and one has graffiti. All 13 of the benches would benefit from being repainted. It was agreed to hire a person who lives in Killarney, if possible. Floh recommended a local handyman named Jabu, who has done outdoor carpentry for him before. Floh will provide his contact details. This work can perhaps be funded out of the upliftment donations. A Task-team will be formed to manage the specifications and the quality of the work. Trish volunteered to play a leading role, but we need more people to volunteer as well.
• The playground needs another layer of clean sand. We will need around 6 cubic meters of new sand, to really do a proper refresh. We will get a quote from our previous supplier, to start off with.
• We need to add hose-pipe connections to the veggie garden irrigation pipe, to allow the hosepipes to be used on the southern edge of the park without needing to drag them across the width of the park from the existing taps. Ismail volunteered to obtain the spare parts required, and to install them if possible.
• It was again suggested to create a composting facility in the park. The location thereof will be decided later, with input from the gardening team and the community, but the most obvious position seems to be the north-west corner of the park, in the angle of the Sloan Square boundary and the 4^th Avenue fence, which is already shielded from view on three sides by existing vegetation.
• Community Street Walks -: the numbers of participants are increasing as the weather improves. The routes are being varied. Thank you to Ismail for his efforts here.
• NKRA Community Gardens project -: Additional fruit trees have been donated to the park, and are being planted. The proposed mural to highlight the veggie garden is being circulated on WhatsApp for community comment. The Community Gardeners will be holding their next Garden Day in the park on Sunday 28 September.
• Killarney public library -: Another book sale is being planned, so we are still asking for additional donations of books. The Friends of the Library are preparing a holiday program, including hosting activities for children for 2 days during the October school break.
• A community market is being planned for November, to include local bakers and craft people, as well as activities for children. The intention is to use the premises of the Killarney Mall. Permission from the Mall has not yet been granted.
• Service-delivery issue-reporting –: To get better municipal service delivery, we need more people to report the various issues and concerns. To make it easier for residents to do this, we will create reporting templates for each of the municipal departments, with built-in guides as to what information needs to be included. These reports will also be copied to Marvin Nkuna, our urban inspector. Cllr Huggett will research what might already be available in other wards, failing which we will build our own templates.
• Community Policing Forum -: Floh Thiele is our official representative on the Hillbrow Community Policing Forum. Floh is out of Johannesburg for a few months. For the remainder of his absence, George Kymdell will stand in as his substitute.
• Illegal hawkers, and illegal drinking on pavements -: This is still a problem. Vision Tactical Security does respond when we ask them to, and they have better contacts at the JMPD than we do, so their involvement does help a lot. Residents will be asked to continue reporting these issues in large numbers.
• On-going risks of cell-phone snatching on pavements, and pick-pockets -: This is still a problem. Buildings will continue to be asked to warn their residents and their visitors. Vigilance is our best defence.
• Killarney Mall refurbishment progress -: There is no progress to report on the sale of the Killarney Mall, and no progress yet on the taxi rank. The Mall management are making some efforts to improve things on the inside of the Mall, but they are not investing at this time.

5.  NEW ISSUES

• The rats in 4^th Ave are getting worse. All buildings will be asked to take steps. There is some opposition to using poison, because of the potential risk to children and animals. There are other alternatives to poisons, which will be investigated.
• There has been a suggestion to create a beehive in Anerley Park, to facilitate the pollination of flowers. Beekeeping requires a permit. It is a specialised (and potentially dangerous) activity, and it is best left to experts. There are beekeepers who will place some of their own hives on other people’s property to provide the pollination service, but they then harvest the honey for themselves. Lindi has some contacts, and will arrange for a site assessment.
• It was noted that the NKRA monthly meetings are usually attended by only a small number of committed persons, and that the various project teams also all depend upon a small number of regular participants.
• Councillor Huggett noted that this is actually the norm in community organisations all across Johannesburg.
• Of those people who do participate in community physical meetings and events, some do so for social reasons rather than an intention to do actual work.
• When Covid forced the NKRA to switch from physical meetings to online meetings, the people who were actually working for the community still continued to participate virtually. The same amount of work is getting done as before, if not more so.
• It is NOT correct to say that the NKRA never manages to do anything. A lot is being achieved, and our many achievements and successes are reported in the monthly newsletters.
• The WALKR’s started out with huge enthusiasm, and many people participated initially to clean up the embankment. This level of participation quickly faded, but the cleanup projects still continue to happen every week, managed by a small number of committed people, and these cleanups and repairs are adding a huge amount of value.
• In order to expand the number of people who attend and participate in our meetings and in our various activities, it was agreed to hold a daytime public get-together in the park, on Saturday 18 October, starting at 10:00am. This will be an opportunity to inform interested people about the NKRA, our efforts and our various projects, and to encourage more people to participate in any way that suits them. Ward Councillor Huggett will also attend, and will be available to talk with residents, and to answer their questions.
• Many people use Saturday mornings for shopping or family activities, so the event will be kept short and informal, and it will focus on informal interaction and the sharing of ideas rather than “business”.
• We will continue to publicise our various activities and projects on the WhatsApp groups, and in our monthly newsletter. These do reach many people.
• The usual monthly general meeting of the NKRA will take place on Wednesday 15 October, virtually by internet, as scheduled. Resolutions will be taken on the proposed expenditures for the pavement repairs, and for the park playground, etc.

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The Meeting closed at 20h30

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Our next meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 15 OCTOBER 2025 AT 18H30

PLEASE PASS ON THESE MINUTES TO OTHER RESIDENTS IN YOUR BUILDINGS

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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

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

To report an electrical fault: Citypower.mobi