The I Love Kensington Association (Ilka) has denied any underhanded actions in the way it runs its house.
Ilka’s chairperson, Mr Tony de Munnik, made the statement in response to residents’ questions following the August 22 Ilka public meeting.
Residents questioned the appointment of 072 No Crime as a security provider for the area without community involvement.
Ms Alison Roberts asked why the information shared at the public meeting was not provided to residents in print, why the meeting did not include a question and answer session and why other security companies were not granted an opportunity to bid prior to the appointment of 072 No Crime.
“Normally, the top three or four candidates would give a presentation to the community members who would then make the final decision on who to appoint,” she said.
Mr De Munnik said residents who had questions were given time to raise them with the officials after the formal meeting was over.
“It was a conscious decision not to allow questions during the meeting as it was felt the nature of the meeting as an information dissemination platform would have been compromised had an open question session been incorporated. It was made clear that questions would be entertained after the formal meeting closed,” he said.
“It should be noted that this public meeting was called by Ilka to announce the launch of the initiative, and not to be the final word on its implementation. An entire roll-out campaign has been planned, and all questions will be addressed prior to the implementation date,” said Mr De Munnik.
Ms Roberts said that as far as she knew, No Crime CC was suspended by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority in June 2014.
Mr De Munnik said Ilka has no contract with No Crime CC but instead with 072 No Crime.
He said the company was appointed after a thorough evaluation of processes and search for a partner to provide viable and sustainable methods of meaningful and effective service to the community.
“Our criteria for the implementation of our proposed initiative were drawn up to ensure that we were not merely replicating security services that have been initiated and failed in the past. O72 No Crime was chosen because it has a proven track record in Kensington and is a proudly Kensington company. Other companies would have to establish a base in Kensington, whereas 072 No Crime already has a presence. The other companies were not familiar with the Kensington public spaces. They also comply with all requirements in respect of licensing and registration to the relevant bodies,” said Mr De Munnik.
In response to a question regarding the company’s resources, Mr De Munnik said Ilka will be managing the process and will have control over the required assets.
“Should there be any fall-out or contractual dispute with 072 No Crime, Ilka will be seeking and will appoint alternative service providers. In collaboration with 072 No Crime, Ilka is currently negotiating with a number of parties who are commercially active in our precinct to provide long term revenue into Ilka and to assist in co-branding various vehicles to fulfill its functions.
“072 No Crime will, at its own cost, purchase vehicles for this initiative. The vehicles will be co-branded by other interested parties. The vehicles will be manned by PSIRA registered personnel. The statements and reconciliations to each household will be done by Ilka. 072 No Crime will have a registered domicilium citandi et executandi,” said Mr De Munnik.
He said Ilka is targeting to engage contractually with 1 000 ratepayers in the community.
“If we get 1 000 contracts with a contribution of R250 per month each to this initiative, we will be able to place four vehicles on the roads 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We will also be able to provide cleaning and other services. Our initial target is to sign up 500 Ilka memberships at R250 per month. Then, with the co-branding agreements with various corporates operating in our space, commence the project in October,” he said.
The question was raised whether Ilka would take public liability cover should there be legal recourse in the event of a mishap involving a person who is not a contributor.
“Ilka intends offering a service to the community by supplying public space patrolling. This service will link all relevant players to each other so that security related matters can be dealt with within the mandate given to the armed response, or other entity to which the individual resident has contracted. Ilka will ensure that it has its own public liability to cover its various initiatives and structures. As is the case with all armed response operators currently contracted to residents and ratepayers, the liabilities carried between client and service provider are clearly stated in the various contracts. Ilka will always operate in the same manner,” said Mr De Munnik.
