ARCHCOM – PAUL HIGGINS
Archcom meeting was held on 07 September 2023 attended by Gordon Hart, Ulf Martz and me.
Three new plans were submitted, and all three plans were approved. One objection form was delt with
Communications – Lise Carswell
Newsletters sent out on schedule
Communication regarding possible access road sent to members
Conservation and engagement – Caitlin Melidonis
● “Conservation Corner” content supplied for MDGA newsletter. Fun facts about the wildlife on the reserve and useful information will be supplied to residents in every newsletter going forward.
● Full Moon walk has been postponed but a new date will be provided by the Reserve Manager soon.
● The bird walk did take place, although it unfortunately only lasted 20 minutes before the rain set it. A new date for the next bird walk (perhaps closer to summer!) will be requested from the Reserve Manager imminently.
Issue/s requiring attention
● Appointment of Waterways Portfolio representative – A request for a waterways portfolio representative was circulated in the most recent MDGA newsletter. One application from a resident with relevant credentials and experience was received and an informal meeting with the applicant was held. Their credentials will be shared with the Excom at the next meeting.
● Drafting and circulation of information sheet about injured wild animals (who to call, what to do etc.)
● Additional dates for a second full moon walk and bird walk before the end of the year to be discussed with Nature Reserve Staff.
EVENTS – VALERIE BENSON
Marina Children’s Christmas Party – proposed date Saturday 16 December 2023
Have provisionally booked Father Christmas (David Muller) pending costs
Marina Christmas Carols – proposed date Sunday 17 December 2023
Met with Mike Peters, Mike English, Rob McLean and Bryan Jacobs of the Marina Carols band to firm up arrangements. We want to keep it as traditional as possible with the usual Carol songs being sung, and children being encouraged to sing in front with the band. Having a prize for the best dressed child was a suggestion. Carols will start at 7pm so that the Carols can be by candlelight as is tradition. Edie lights instructions and the Carols song sheet will be sent out in the Marina newsletter. Residents can start arriving from 6:30pm onwards.
Presently, our water quality is good so we should be able to have the boats on the water for the Carols this year. The band will therefore be on the Park Island side of the bridge on the small stage there. The band is to find a sound engineer to manage the sound as Alan Gerhardt is no longer available unfortunately.
I contacted Peter Cawood of Uitsig to confirm he will provide power and do the lights on the bridge with Robbie. I also confirmed with Rushni of Park Island that they will provide a power source for the band.
Confirmed Don from Eastlake Island as the piper for the Marina Carols. He has played at them before.
Need to check status of MDGA music equipment, speakers etc.
Marina Halloween Walk – Sunday 29 October 2023
The Marina Halloween walk will take place on Sunday 29 October 2023. Halloween is on Tuesday 31st October 2023, which is a school night and working parents will find it difficult to make it in time so we have traditionally done it on a Sunday. Sweets that are donated in return for maps to the participating houses are given to Where Rainbows Meet. Residents go all out and decorate their houses and dress up for when they walk around the Marina.
Marina Open Gardens day – Sunday 17 September 2023
The Marina Open Gardens day was postponed to 17 September 2023 due to heavy rain the previous Sunday. The 17th was a beautiful day. We had 6 private gardens on show (2 in Eastlake, 3 in Park Island and 1 in Uitsig) and 2 community gardens in Uitsig. It was a great success with about 30 people visiting most gardens. Maps to the gardens were sold at R20 each with funds raised going to the SA Guide Dogs Association for the Blind as the Marina has 3 puppy raisers living here. Koemi Rowe, our Uitsig garden rep, had a Q and A session on Uitsig Park in the morning. Final total raised for SA Guide Dogs is pending confirmation from Marina puppy raiser Jill Rumbelow. Photos will be posted on social media and in the next Marina newsletter with thanks to all those who helped make the event a success.
Municipal Infrastructure – Ulf Martz and Demetri Qually
- Past Month’s Activities
The last month’s activities revolved around liaison with the City of Cape Town officials regarding the re-instatement of the collapsed wall, the planning of alternative access routes to ZENR.
- Collapsed Boundary Wall
Sections of the northern boundary wall had collapsed after a storm. The matter had been addressed and communicated to the City of Cape Town officials, and with the assistance of Valerie Benson, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) implemented temporary fencing to close off the area due to security concerns. However, the temporary fence was removed leaving an open passageway through the wall, which poses a security risk.
Further communication between the MDGA and City officials and councillors ensued.
Whilst the onus of reinstating the section of boundary wall falls on the property owner, in this case the CoCT, they appear to be reluctant to build a new wall.
The whole section of the wall also poses a safety risk as parts of it will fall. It is recommended that the existing wall be demolished and rebuilt to structurally sound standards.
Photo 1: Collapsed boundary wall next to the canal.
The wall was poorly constructed (or repaired) in the first place, with no evidence of structurally sound best practices, and the wall has rotated off the vertical, which could be a result of poor workmanship, or that no adequate foundations have been provided. Additional signs of structural failure are evident.
Recommendations would be for the City of Cape Town to take ownership and repair the wall to structurally sound standards.
Whilst the boundary wall does not rest with the Infrastructure Portfolio, it is recommended that the MDGA through its collaborative efforts with the various stakeholders and primarily with the council, to drive the reconstruction of this section of wall.
- Flooding on PGD
Stormwater localised flooding was reported to council.
Photo 2: Localised flooding on PGD reported to council
- Proposed Special Schools in Coniston Park and Access through Oudevlei Road
The MDGA was approached by Zandvlei Estuary Nature Reserve (ZENR) where various access routes to their offices northwest of the Marina da Gama was discussed as a result of the re-routing of their current access road traversing through the designated Special Needs School site. The implication of the preferred route (see Figure A below) recommends the breaking down of the wall at the end of Oudevlei Road (see photo 4 below).
Figure A: Alternative route alignments
Photo 4: Proposed Road through Oudevlei Road
A communique was disseminated to all homeowners of the Marina da Gama.
- Issues requiring attention.
- Further engagement with the City of Cape Town to escalate the repair work that needs to be done at the northern boundary wall, via the MDGA office.
- To re-initiate the engagement with the City of Cape Town to bring the M4-M5 road link forward and not leave it under long term planning as published in the District Development Framework Plan. This should be part of the conditions imposed by the TIA for the imminent densification of Vrygrond.
- Additional engagement with the CoCT/ Province regarding the proposed access through Oudevlei Road and the Special Needs School/ ZENR access road.
- Resolution on the way forward with all Marina da Gama Boundary Wall, in terms of Standards and Council DAMS compliance.
Office administration – Demetri Qually and Lise Carswell
PARKS AND GARDENS – VALERIE BENSON
The Marina Gardeners’ team, led by Staffa, works every Tuesday on a rotational basis in the various areas of the Marina. Park Island, then Uitsig Peninsula, then Cannon Island and Eastlake Island. Each area of the Marina has a local resident guiding the Marina Gardeners on the relevant Tuesday. Andrea Pycroft represents Cannon Island and Eastlake Island, Koemi Rowe is the Uitsig Peninsula representative. Cherry Giljam has stepped up to be the Park Island representative replacing Silvia Stringer, which is such great news as Cherry is very knowledgeable.
Council is now regularly collecting the garden refuse from each island after the Marina Gardeners have worked on the specific island. It does take about 10 days for the refuse to be collected but it is getting done more regularly.
Council has also cut the grass in most of the Marina public open spaces (POS) and on the verges, a bit prematurely given the flowers on the fields. The Marina has a no mow policy in place with the council during flower season so we usually give the council the go ahead as to when to mow.
An Uitsig resident raised concerns to me and the MDGA about the POS between Zee Close and Brabant Close re clearance of long grass, weeds, overhanging trees and garden refuse there. She also asked for the bench there to be repaired as well as a broken street lamp. I have referred most of these to Eugene Rayners at the Parks department, the bench to Kyran Wright and the street lamp to Aimee Kuhl with reference numbers.
This is the Park Island report back from Cherry Giljam from 5th September 2023:
“Despite the weather’s best efforts to soak us to the skin we did a good day’s work on Tuesday. I collected Staffa but took him home after an hour because of the weather. One chap worked in the garden on the Park Island corner under the ficus tree, cleaning up and planting vygies. Another pulled all the mustard plants from the POS around de Lille, before they seed and the others worked with me on the corner and along the wall at the entrance to Park Island. We haven’t finished yet and I am waiting for the rain to stop before spraying the stony areas.”
The Marina Gardeners are in Uitsig tomorrow, Tuesday 19th September 2023 so Koemi Rowe is ready for them. On all the Islands, a lot of weeding and mulching is being done.
Andie Pycroft, the Cannon Island and Eastlake Island garden rep, asked to buy gloves, brooms, and various other items for the Marina Gardeners to the value of R782 which was approved.
Staffa has returned to work. He cannot ride his motorbike so the garden volunteers are fetching him from Capricorn on a Tuesday.
SAFETY AND SECURITY – ROBIN CARLISLE
1.Crime.
Muizenberg SAPS – period 24.8.23 to 11.9.23.
1 murder; 2 rapes, 1 housebreak, 19 assaults, 12 motor vehicles thefts or attempts, and 83 other arrests for a total of 118 arrests.
Unfortunately, SAPS do not report by sector nor do they compare against the same period in the previous year. I will raise these matters at our next SAPS/community meeting.
Marina –
Five crimes are reported for the Marina for Aug compared to none in July: –
– Uitsig – I common theft, I theft of m/vehicle;
-East Lake Drive -attempted house break;
-Fishermans – attempted housebreak;
-Spearhead – Common theft.
Four of the 5 crimes were reported to SAPS.
With the help of Deep Blue, we will soon be reporting Marina crimes on a more detailed basis with comparisons to the previous year.
LPR Triggers.
There were 56 triggers during the month, the bulk being for one resident for poaching.
DB saw off 13 vehicles and made 1 vehicle recovery.
We use Navic`s data base which is never culled, so much the information is useless.
2.Service providers.
Contracts and annual costs.
Deep Blue – 60 day cancellation. They maintain 2 Armed Response Vehicles and have 4/6 DBS controllers (i.e., monitors) – all 24/7. Total annual DB cost is R112.200.
Navic provide the ANPR data base. In May 2023 Excom signed a 24 month contract with Navic.
Total annual Navic cost is R27600.
5Th Dimension do the maintenance of the LPR cameras. On 28.3.23 Excom signed a 24 month contract with 5th Dimension. Their total cost is R22080.
Other maintenance costs R2654
R11396 is paid to residents for electricity.
Total cost of safety portfolio is R175930 per annum.
All these costs need a detailed and competitive assessment. I consider it questionable to renew long term contracts close to the end of an ExCom’s term of office.
3.Special Concerns
North Wall: –
Some 13 meters of the western end have collapsed. A further 10 meters will shortly follow. The land in question is owned by CCC and it is extremely unlikely that they will rebuild it.
Shortly after the replacement fence was removed, a Kia panel van was stolen from Carp Close on 27.8.2023. We have been able to establish from camera footage that the Kia van left Uitsig at 0335 via Oudevlei Road. Further that no one had entered Uitsig by the North wall.
Never the less, it is important that we close up the broken wall area as soon as possible.
I will therefore ask Excom for consideration of a solution in principle. I am informed that erection of a Clear View fence would be desirable.
I have also asked Neil Muller if staff member Robbie Johnston could assist and advise in this project.
Please also refer to the Infrastructure report.
Improving safety in the precincts.
As indicated in my previous report, I am assessing the state of security in each precinct. Given the collapse of the North wall, I am commencing with Uitsig. There are some Whatsapp circles.
There is interest in increasing resident awareness, and I will convene an informal meeting shortly. All exec members will be advised and are welcome.
Improving security providers performance.
Having looked at the contracts, I am not satisfied that providers are all meeting their undertakings. I will meet with each of them to start moving to a more satisfactory level of performance.
Loadshedding.
Whilst monitoring connection is maintained by some cameras during loadshedding, in most cases it is not. We need to find a path to close this quite serious hole in our defenses.
STANDARDS – NEIL MULLER
1) Regular weekly meetings with the two Standards Officers in the MDGA Offices.
2) The review the database on alleged violations of the Standards is being reviewed. A current copy of the database is attached and a large scale print will be provided at the meeting. The following actions are proposed:
a. We will cull the list to remove entries that are minor or have not been actioned for years. This is to be done in consultation with EXCOM and the physical list will include a checklist to allow for EXCOM members to indicate the entries that they think should be removed or prioritized. We will then generate a new list.
b. We will identify the top 10 violations and prioritise them for resolution.
c. We are developing a “Improvements Policy” that will set out a standard process for proceeding with the resolution of violations. Each step will have defined timeframes and will include notification and consultation with the Members and Excom.
3) We are undertaking a visual survey of the boundary wall along the M5. While the constitution calls for masonry walls, there seem to be obvious problems with this type of construction on sandy soils with as much underground water movement as is apparent. Consideration may have to be given to alternatives that meet the safety and aesthetic values of these walls.
4) We are exploring the establishment of a funding mechanism for assisting members with the demands of keeping up the appearance of white painted walls.
5) Vibracrete Wall on Prince George – The recommended meeting has not yet occurred. Mr Hepple has some health injuries. I have taken personal responsibility to try and engage the owner of the property.
6) East Lake Island Drive: There is a dispute over construction material and the matter has been referred to the City. I have asked that in future before this is done that we seek the guidance from the EXCOM. This will be addressed of course in the proposed “Improvements Policy”.
7) Clarification of Responsibilities
There is a need to clarify who is responsible for, and the nature of the
responsibility for:
a. The “leaning wall” on the M5.
b. The missing piece of wall on City Property.
c. Pavements/side walks.
Surrounding COMMUNITIES’ Liaison – Lathif Gafoor
* my two year interaction with the Traffic department regarding the right hand term at the intersection of the M5 / Military rd leading into Sea Winds has now been accomplished resulting in unimpeded access to the Sea Winds roadway
* my attention is now focused on the M5/ Vrygrond / Oudevlei robot intersection. The unraveling of the challenge is a complex one. I requested that the traffic department ropes in the experts which has now taken place. I will be following up progress. See emails with line departments below for clarification on the subject
* with the festive season around the corner the CPF working jointly with SAPS is putting together safety plans to accommodate the influx of people into Muizenberg. One of our biggest challenges is Liquor.
* Parole Board – I’m the CPF representative to serve on the Parole Board. The purpose is to sit at the table with Parole Board personnel in order for us to be better informed as to who was being released and the crime they were serving for whilst in prison. It’s important for us to know who the people are as they could be from our area. Unfortunately this hasn’t as yet materialised although it’s three years in the making. Lt Colonel Alexander and I will be meeting to revive the subject in engaging with officials concerned
Treasury – JONATHAN WALTERS
The past month’s activities involved sorting the administrative problems at the bank due to the transition from the previous treasurer. There were some issues that required a visit to the bank and some phone calls but everything is now on track. I have already secured a new business card and the portfolio is set up for internet banking. My operator ID has been added to the business online, though I can manage and release payments, there were certain payments I could not create in the last batch and asked Lise to create; I am following this up with Nasiphi and will check this for the next batch run. However, everything else is running fine and I am able to extract statements in the correct format for both Marcia and the accountant. There was an issue in the transition because Marcia was not able to access the statements for some time and Glenda needed the statements in OFX format to integrate with the accounting software. The business online platform does not facilitate this and before Marcia had to log into the Internet Banking which was a problem when Richard’s card was cancelled. However, the administrator should ideally not log into the Internet Banking and everything should be facilitated through the external business online platform.
There is an enhanced and newer business platform that we should probably migrate to. Firstly, all users can then operate on this platform and it has the required ofx format available. Secondly, it will not require the business card to be linked, which will mitigate future issues if there ever needs to be a change of cards again.
Glenda needs to catch up on 3 months of work but I have been told we will have financial statements up to the end of July for the next meeting and up to date reports for the following one. I have met with Marcia and Glenda and work closely with them but still need to meet with Alan Hepple. I will meet with him soon when the age analysis has been updated and discussed etc.
In the meanwhile, I am liaising with Marcia regarding any issues with levies or expenses in the interim. Four notifications were given by Marcia regarding levies:
*Resident 1 will settle at the end of the month.
*Resident 2 have requested relief from paying levies as they are pensioners without income.
*Resident 3 has asked for some leniency while she awaits finances as her husband passed away recently (sent 11 August).
*Resident 4 is withholding payment for 2023, her gripe is that nothing is done at Fisherman’s Quay and there is desperate need of maintenance, she contrasts this with Park Island which in her view “looks great”
Action steps:
Check the next payment run functionality for my operator ID.
Explore and evaluate upgrading to the enhanced business platform for the reasons I mentioned above and perhaps have Marcia added as admin operator (limited functionality) so that all business can function efficiently through the external platform.
Address the notifications received from Marcia above.
Procure an up to date age analysis and financials from the accountant as soon as possible, discuss among ourselves any debtor, income or expense issues, plan, forecast and then meet with Alan Hepple to decide what to hand-over.
WATERWAYS
