Luewellyn Pillay, the chairperson of Kelvin Residents Association (KRA) contemplated on a year of much progress, expansion and success.
According to Pillay, the association’s vision is to promote active citizenry which will drive community projects in Kelvin.
By extending the association into sub-committee structures this year to include KRA-Pulse (driving charitable project), a budding youth forum, a women’s forum, a sports and recreation forum and an active community patrolling and intelligence network aligned to the Sandton Guardians and Community Policing Forum, the association has come a long way to achieve its goals.
One successful project highlighted by Pillay was the renewal of the road closure agreement with the Johannesburg Roads Agency in order to maintain safety in the suburb.
In order to increase effectiveness and immediacy of communication, the KRA Geek Squad took to migrate to Telegram Messenger to communicate suburb issues to more than 500 residents.
The Beautify Kelvin Project, which preempted the A Re Sebetseng initiative, cleaned up problem areas including the Meadway Sports Club.
“Vandalism, illegal and underage drinking, drug use and litter is a huge problem in this area, but through cleaning the area and patrolling, it has become more desirable for residents to utilise the facilities. This, in turn, makes it less desirable for criminal elements to utilise,” said Pillay.
He also pointed to the unity achieved in the diverse community through the multi-faith Diwali gathering, where non-Hindus outnumbered Hindus at the occasion.
Major challenges faced in Kelvin include the proposed development of Frankenwald by the University of Witwatersrand. “We are mobilising the community to ascertain views in this regard. We look forward to a sustainable development that will benefit all communities in the area.”
Pillay added that he is in discussions with neighbouring communities about the proposed development so they can communicate a united voice to developers.
He also pointed to the decision of council to put the Parks and Meadway Sports Club to tender as an issue of tension in the community. “In terms of council-provided facilities, these are the only facilities available to residents in Kelvin and in all likelihood, we may need to tender for and subsequently renovate our own public facilities.
“This does not sit well with the community, who through rates and taxes are already stretched to breaking point.”
Illegal dumping and multi-tenant dwellings are other issues Pillay hopes will be resolved next year.
“KRA would like to express our gratitude to our contributors for enabling us to deliver on our mandate. We are extremely blessed to have our community members driving us onward and upward and providing energy for our goals.”
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