News

Chairman’s Message 31st July 2022

Dear Community

July saw the attempted burglary and an armed robbery. This after one incident in the previous six months. The week after the armed robbery we put an extra car and guard in the area and this has had the desired effect. All in all, we have had a good year, especially when I compare ourselves to other surrounding associations.

Feedback from the sector meeting on Thursday night when we as chairpersons meet with the police is that overall crime is down in the sector but the theft out of cars at shopping centers remains high. Please, ensure your car is locked when walking away and that you do not leave valuables in your car at any time. Fridays in July were the highest crime day of the week followed by Thursdays and Sundays. Peak times are between 18h00 and 21h00. Allansek has the highest crime as an association for the month.


We were urged to keep open areas clean to ensure we do not have “displaced people” living in our area or along our borders. Another reason for clearing open spaces was to prevent runaway fires. Have you noticed the hard work done by Joy and her team along Hendrik Potgieter?

It’s the end of the month. Please can you ensure you are up to date with your CKN contributions? It makes our lives easier in not having to follow up on outstanding contributions. Thank you as always for your ongoing support.

Then after the recent hiccups in CKN, the issue of booming the area was again raised.
I am not going to give your breakdown of what the requirements are but I am going to ask that you please visit the Johannesburg Road Agency website – https//jra.org.za/policies-procedures – and read the full document.

Its called Security Access Restrictions Policy

All that needs to be done to apply for booming etc is there. But I will provide some indication of pricing. This will be a monthly cost and does not include the initial setup costs of the guard houses, toilets, and electricity.
Please Note, that the guards have to have access to water, electricity, and sewage.


I have worked on a project plan on costs to boom three entrances to CKN, that is Albert Street and both ends of Constantia Drive. As always there will be many who will benefit that will not be contributing. In the plan, I have only included costs of the guards. To install three booms we will need a minimum of nine guards (we may need 12 as Constantia Drive is a double-lane road).

The cost of employing nine guards is estimated at R 129 365 per month. With this cost in mind, it will mean that with booms and guards, there will be no budget for the dedicated CKN cars. Adding onto this, to cover the extra expenditure, CKN member fees will also have to at least triple based on the current number of paying CKN members. Armed response, supplied by Dowry, will be in addition to the higher member fees. It is important to note that this does not include the added monthly cost for sewage removal.

Booming is not an easy process to implement and as you can see, is not a cheap one either. If there are streets that wish to pursue booming, the aforementioned policy can give you guidelines.

If you would like to provide constructive feedback to the above, please feel free to mail me at chairman@nullckn.org.za

Stay Safe
John
CKN Chairman

Minutes of the first CKN Meeting for 2022 held on 8 June

Meetings held by the CKN Committee are published on our website as a means to keep everything open and transparent. Any queries can be directed to any committee member through our WhatsApp groups or directly in email to chairman@nullckn.org.za

PRESENT APOLOGIES ABSENT
·       John

·       Joy

·       Rox

·       Lloyd

·       Athelie

·       Liesl

·       Letitia (away in Australia)

 

·       Henry

·       Elna

·       Charlotte

·       Lorin

 

STATS AND CRIME FRONT

  • 1 burglary in CKN for the year to date.
  • Compared to stats for Honeydew (which are dire), CKN is doing well.

MAINTENANCE OF AREA

JOY AND TEAM

  • Thanks to Joy and the team – continue to get rave reviews.
  • Possibility of an extra day every now and then – depending on what Joy is able to arrange. Uniform – one team member was on leave when the last lot of uniforms were purchased.
  • Joy to arrange for uniform to be bought and liaise with Lloyd for payment.
  • Weed Eater – needs to be repaired, etc. Joy to arrange and liaise with Lloyd for payment.

14 OKKERNEUT STREET

  • CKN will supply a big skip.
  • Joy will arrange a clean-up within reason.
  • As a committee, decisions are made as to extent of involvement – see points mentioned above.
  • Shaun Clunie is heading a (personal) drive to clean up the property.
  • Greg Hogan has been enlisted to remove the bees. Due to the state of house etc, it is a difficult job. (Who is paying for this?)

POTHOLES

  • Continue reporting.
  • Seems that some potholes have been fixed over the last few days.

KROTON PARK AND GENERAL AREA – DOGS

  • Plastic bag holders for Park
    • Poop to be picked up by owners
    • Possibility of getting the bag holders (per pics circulated to the committee on WhatsApp group on 08.06.22) made by someone in the community? Joy may know of someone.
    • Bag holders to be placed in Park.
  • Dogs to be walked on a leash in the Park in order to ensure safety for all.
  • Signage – John to arrange.

NEW MEMBERS

  • New members signed up today and a number of new homes added in the last weeks.
  • Possibility of sharing exact stats re membership / non-membership at next meeting?

FINANCES / CASHFLOW

  • Cash positive.
  • No need to call for donations for anything in the near future. However, tell residents what has been done and what monies spent from the kitty they are contributing to.

DOWRY

  • John meeting with Harm next week
  • Fuel costs may arise at this meeting
  • Our cars for CKN fill up on average every 1.5 days
  • Each car does about 120km per day / 5k km per month
  • Cameras etc – 70% deposit has been paid by CKN but no invoice has been received for the remainder. John to raise with Harm at the meeting mentioned above.

FIRE OPS

  • Benefit for all who are DOWRY / CKN members.
  • John to draft and drop a WhatsApp message to all groups – i.e. benefit and number to call if needed.

CKN 25 YEARS CELEBRATIONS

21.05.22 – BIRTHDAY MEET N GREET

  • Well attended at Kleine Constantia.
  • Possibility of having 2 per year – good opportunity to meet and greet on a personal/face-to-face level.

28.05.22 – CKN COMMUNITY BIRTHDAY MARKET (our 7th market since started in 2018)

  • Well attended and supported.
  • Committee to have own stand at next market. To be manned / womened (!!) on a roster.  Good visibility and another opportunity to meet and greet the community.

WEBSITE

  • The hack has been fixed.
  • Rox arranging for other required work. This should be complete by the end of 13.06.22.

GENERAL

  • Date for AGM to be set.

 

Minutes of the first CKN Meeting for 2022 held on 3 February

Meetings held by the CKN Committee are published on our website as a means to keep everything open and transparent. Any queries can be directed to any committee member through our WhatsApp groups or directly in email to chairman@nullckn.org.za

The chairman opened the meeting by welcoming all in attendance. Apologies from Rox, Letitia, Henry, and Elna.

Crime for the past year was mentioned. Thankfully CKN had experienced very few incidents. For the remainder of the meeting, the chairman wanted to spend time discussing plans for the coming year. Service delivery was highlighted as important, especially, if we want to maintain the area and have a pleasant place for all to live.

Plans for the year

No change in CKN contributions. This had already been communicated to CKN members.

Items to tackle in the coming year:

  • Empty homes
  • Non-members – John to draft a letter to encourage non-members to join
  • Electrical boxes to get a much-needed facelift.
  • Board at park advising residents to maintain the park, keep it clean and pick up after their dogs.
  • Signage for Joy’s gardening team, on order. This will be used to increase the visibility of workers while at work.
  • Investigation to install cameras in Kroton park, Charlotte to ask Leon to help.
  • Cameras at main entrances of CKN. Await invoice for power supplies to be replaced.
  • Keep chasing matters that need to be completed/fixed in the area eg potholes

CKN is 25 years old in May. Plans to be drafted around a birthday celebration. Also noted that there is a need to hold an overdue AGM.

General:

  • Dowry Security have been with CKN for seven years this February. A newsletter to CKN is being put together by Dowry.
  • Dowry has advised of a license fee increase. John will speak to Harm at Dowry as the committee felt Dowry should correspond with the residents on this.
  • Visors and new uniforms approved for Joy’s Team.
  • The question was asked as to where do the cars change shift and fill up with petrol? John will confirm with Dowry.
  • Lloyd mentioned a client of his had had an armed robbery in Alansnek. Access was gained via an open gate. John will remind residents in the next email to keep gates locked.

Message From Our Chairman, John

Hi all in CKN

CKN turns 24 this month, it feels like only yesterday I put together a newsletter for our 23rd birthday.

I was wondering about what to put down in a newsletter as something different for our 24th birthday and so I’ll be sharing some incidents I can recall from my time in the area and also some thoughts on what an association is and the difference it makes to have one.

Recovered vehicle – many will not know we had a caravan park where the Kia dealership is now, access via CKN. Well, one night I got a call of an abandoned car in Stamperboom. Took a walk and once there I asked the police to check on the registration. It came as wanted and belonged to a resident of the caravan park. The police arrived and the two of us set off to the caravan park. Quite a mission to navigate the park but we found the owner of the car. He had been hijacked, driven around, and dropped off (I can’t remember where), and for some or other reason, the car was left close to where it had been taken. One very grateful owner.

Three fires at once – It was a cold winter Friday night and I was collecting pizza. I got called that a house was on fire. Left the order and raced to the house to find we had three house fires. A lapa at a house in Boomgom had caught fire and as it was very windy, sparks had spread to two more homes. Fortunately, three fire engines arrived, and the fires were quickly extinguished. We had later supper that night.

Found child – I received a call from the police one night asking for help in finding a missing child that had gone missing from their home in Weltevredenpark. (this was the days before Whatsapp). I started phoning those on our patrol list (we as residents did patrol) and to meet at the vet. Once I finished phoning, I proceeded to the vet. It was amazing to see all the CKN residents that had arrived. After a briefing, we hit the road. Some hours later the young boy was found and reunited with his family. A proud night for CKN.

Whilst I did not want to go into some of the crime-related incidents we have had in the area, I thought I would share a little-known incident we had of a brothel that operated in Boomgom Street some years ago. Yes, I am sure many of you are surprised at the mention of that! Once it came to our attention we got the police involved and after much harassment from the police and having our dedicated cars give the house some extra attention, the occupants moved out one night without saying a word and leaving the house standing empty.

Then just some personal thoughts from my time as Chairman in the area and, from having worn several hats over the years, including CPF Chairman and sector chairman.

Many do not realize how powerful an association can be. What a difference we can make when we all come together as one. Hence our motto of “no man is an island” in CKN. CKN membership is at some 70 percent, very high for an association, so I must thank the many in the area that supports us and share our vision of a safer and cleaner neighborhood.

CKN’s crime-fighting model is unique in that the CKN members pay to have the cars you see actively roaming our streets with the instructions to stop crime before it starts. So many companies remain reactive and only respond to an alarm signal after the fact. Many companies do offer “dedicated” cars but remember for a company to do that, they need at least some 200 homes to break even on their costs. Many have said the more security companies represented in an area the better as you will have more cars patrolling. Not so. It’s a cost thing and for a company to have a car in an area is costing them a large amount of money. The “shotgun” effect does not work.

I have always been a firm believer in visible policing and hence the dedicated cars that do not leave the area.

Having a dedicated service provider that we get invoiced for gives us a greater say in what they do in the area and we are not just a number. I chat with the officers daily along with their manager and liaise almost daily with the head of Dowry. We have a good team that knows the area and does not change on a regular basis.

We can only keep these cars on the road with our financial help.

I have so often heard the statement of “I don’t need to belong to an association and crime will not affect me!” And when crime does come, I hear “I never thought it would happen to me and now, how can I get involved.” It is so sad that some want to make use of our cars without contributing to their running. I do not know of many areas across Johannesburg that have what we have in dedicated cars and a bicycle.

Have you ever wondered why the cars are marked CKN?

Also is the security company registered both with PSIRA and SAIDSA? If you have an incident at your house and the company is not registered, your insurance may not payout.

Being chairman for a long as I have in the area has also meant I have had a close interaction with the Honeydew Police Station. Unfortunately, Honeydew has been in the top 5 worst police stations in the country for many years now. If we take into account our crime-related incidents for CKN, we contribute next to nothing to the precinct crime stats. Crime stats for CKN can be found on our website. Is it not in the interests of all who live here to try and make the area safe for all?

Over the years I have seen so many traumatic and sad crime-related incidents. I still patrol with the police and for many years had a police radio as CPF chairman. Crime is real and closer than you think but as long as we can keep our area safe, we will continue our efforts. We can’t change the world, but we can try our best to keep our little piece of SA safe.

Coming back to my comment on an association, many see the benefit in joining in not only keeping the area safe but knowing one’s neighbor and being part of a community that cares. CKN helped feed some 8 families last year during the lockdown, thanks to the contributions of many in the area and our market days in the park have become a real talking point.

Again, it’s so sad there are some that still don’t know who or what CKN is or just don’t want to be part of what CKN has become.

Whilst CKN was formed many years ago to fight crime, it has moved from not only crime-fighting but to maintenance and beautifying of the area.

Have you ever wondered to why the area is so well maintained? Just have a look at Constantia Drive and the park in Kroton Street. There is a team of three gents overseen by a resident in Worsboom Street that work once a week in the area. They cut grass, clean pavements, and gutters and pick up litter. All this also from the monthly contributions of residents Did you notice the entrance at Albert Street got a facelift a few weeks ago?

The efforts of crime-fighting and area maintenance have made our little area a sought-after place to live. House prices have not lost value. It is sad though that estate agents use the CKN name to sell homes but give us no benefit from the sale.

In closing, I need to highlight to those that do not get our emails and are not on our WhatsApp groups the amount of time and effort that goes into the area by many of the residents and committee members. And please note, all with no remuneration.

We have people that log calls immediately water is off, or the electricity gets cut. Fortunately, we have a councilor that does a lot for us and we also have a resident on the ward committee. We have a fantastic website, people that run a lost animal group and they are very busy at times, and up to date database of the area, a bank statement that gets reconciled monthly, emails get sent out regularly, market days that are well planned and well attended, attendance of sector meetings with the police, regular meetings with Dowry and also CKN committee meetings and
I am sure there are other matters I have overlooked.

To all the family members of the committee and the ad-hoc committee members, thank you for allowing these great people the time they so gladly give to CKN.

To the many that make CKN a great place to live, thank you. 24 years is a long time and we have something we can be proud of.

Here’s to another 24.
Stay safe
John