MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF THE 5th OCTOBER 2022

MINUTES FOR THE MONTHLY PUBLIC MEETING OF THE

NEW KILLARNEY-RIVIERA ASSOCIATION

HELD VIRTUALLY OVER THE INTERNET

ON WEDNESDAY 5 OCTOBER 2022 AT 18H00

PRESENT:     Wayne Ford (Killarney Village); Charles Whyte (Beverley Heights); David Spencer (Brenthurst Court); Kim Robinson (Killarney Hills); Vivian Darko (Russell Fisher Properties); Imraan Moolla (Park Avenue}.

1.     WELCOME

• Wayne welcomed everyone to the meeting.

2.     APOLOGIES RECEIVED

• Eleanor Huggett (Ward Councillor); Adrienne Egbers (Cranwell Hall); Carmen Roets (Dumbarton Oaks).

3.     DISCUSSION OF TIME CONSTRAINT

• We are using the free-version of Microsoft Teams, which imposes a time limit of one hour on our meeting. We will therefore strive to keep the discussions short and relevant, so as to finish by 7pm.

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

• We still have problems on many of our pavements, especially in 2^nd Avenue, 1^st Street, 3^rd Street, Riviera Road and 4^th Avenue. A number of holes which were dug in 7^th Street near the traffic circle to repair the gas pipes, have also not yet been repaired. These issues have all been reported to the JRA and the ward councillor.
• The motorway fence at the 7^th Street circle has been broken yet again, to enable illegal access onto the motorway embankment. There are many homeless people living on the motorway embankment now. Although it is illegal for them to live there, it is also illegal for the police to remove them unless the police have a safe place to which they can be relocated, and the ward councillor tells us that the various homeless shelters in Johannesburg are apparently all full. This problem cannot be solved easily, and the recession will make things even worse.
• There are established hawkers in 7^th Street at the circle, who are now sometimes cooking and selling hot food as well. The hawkers at the taxi rank are also getting well established.
• Our big concrete dustbins at the 7^th Street parking area have all been smashed. We speculate that this may have been done to allow the theft of the steel reinforcing rods for scrap metal, but it could be that they were just vandalised.
• There is an on-going problem with litter. We again appeal to all buildings to help by keeping our pavements and gutters free of litter.
• The big fallen tree in Anerley Road, and the crushed fence, is a hazard to traffic safety as well as being unsightly.
• We communicate well with the SAPS, and we are still represented at the Community Policing Forum.  The police do run “operations” in Killarney from time to time, usually on a surprise basis and usually targeting the illegal drinking at the illegal taxi rank
• We are still operating a community security project, whereby a security guard circulates around the area in a tuk-tuk vehicle. The guard focuses on deterring pickpockets and cell-phone snatchers, but he also takes note of other crime-risk red flags, and reports these to his control centre for further action. The guard focuses his time around the buildings which are contributing to this project. The only buildings which are still contributing to this project are Killarney Court, Daventry Court, Brenthurst Court, Chartwell and Bretton Woods. If we had more contributors, we could expand the service and make the area even safer.
• We are making very slow progress with our efforts to have the Killarney Mall accommodate a proper taxi facility on their own premises. The Council has confirmed that the Mall will need to include the taxi facility in any further development in order to get municipal authorisation for any such development. The Mall has indicated that they are currently researching a further development, but no dates have been discussed yet.
• JMPD is reluctant to act against hawkers generally, because JMPD are required to impound and store their various goods, in order to return them after the fine has been paid. These goods often “go missing” while in “safe keeping”, and then JMPD has to compensate the illegal hawker for all of the lost goods. We need to find fresh ideas to deal with the problem of illegal hawkers, as they are starting to proliferate in our area.
• The hawkers’ main customers are employees of our buildings, although we have noted owners purchasing from the illegal hawkers as well, and the drive-through drug sellers seem to sell mostly to strangers. If anybody has a fresh idea for resolving these problems, please do share your ideas and suggestions urgently.

5.     PHOTOGRAPHIC REGISTER OF ISSUES

• Please would residents send in up-to-date photos of all issues requiring attention, with a can or something included in the photo to indicate the size of the hole please.

6.     PARK PLAYGROUND REFRESH

• It was agreed to purchase a truckload of clean sand to top up the playground area in the park. This sand gets “consumed” over time by the children while playing, some sand is lost each time the leaves are swept out, and the sand also gets muddy from the soil which is washed into the sand pit by heavy rains. The sand pit is a favourite for small children – especially in the warmer weather which is now upon us. New playground sand will cost R3200 per cubic meter, including delivery. The meeting was happy to purchase a few cubic meters of clean sand, but the decision will need to be referred to the next NKRA meeting to allow for broader participation.
• It was also agreed to investigate adding a smaller slide onto the main jungle-gym structure, to accommodate the very small children. This will cost about R20,000. The matter will need to be referred to the next meeting to allow for broader participation.

7.     GENERAL

• We have noted that a lot of buildings are repainting at present, or have repainted recently.
• This shows that owners in Killarney care about their homes, and it makes the suburb a much more desirable place in which to live, and in which to invest. Many thanks to all the buildings concerned.

The meeting was closed, with thanks to all who had attended the meeting.

Our next public meeting will be held virtually on

WEDNESDAY 2 NOVEMBER 2022 AT 18H00

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