THANK YOU

The trustees would like to thank all the residents for their patience and understanding during our building renovations and upgrade. We are sure that you will all agree that all the projects have added great value to our building and we are constantly receiving compliments from the estate agents and visitors.

Dukes Court is a very sought out building in Killarney.

NEW PROJECTS COMPLETED THIS YEAR

  1. NEW GARDENS

The north and south and south gardens are now fully completed and all residents may use the gardens to rest, relax and have fun. Many have already availed of these gardens and I am sure that, in addition to enhancing the value of our building, will add value to all our residents. Please feel free to use the gardens. The keys to the doors leading to the gardens are with the guards on the west side. Quite a few of our residents have indicated that they would like to use the garden to hold a braai. We have no objection provided that the place is cleaned after the braai and no damage is done to our paving and left in the condition in which it was found.

  1. GENERATOR

A generator has been installed on the east garage of the building.

The generator is expected to be fully functional by Friday 22 November.

We will be looking to encase the generator within the next few weeks, if possible.

  1. Additional projects completed are as follows:

•Paving north garden

•Paving south garden

•Paving east garden

•Paving west garden

•Tarmac surfacing of 4 driveways.

•Irrigation systems for gardens.

Several other projects are in the pipeline for next year and more information will be provided via newsletters next year.

  1. TRUSTEE COMMUNICATION

Any resident who wishes to communicate with the Trustees may use the post box situated on the front desk. All correspondence to be addressed to the Trustees. Please provide contact details

(e mail, cell no etc) so that we can keep you updated on your request.

  1. INCIDENT REPORT

The above form is available from the Senior Guard at Front Desk and has been in use for some time now. Some people, however, are still emailing, telephoning and calling on the Trustees at various times. The Body Corporate will, in future, not entertain emails, telephone calls, or personal visits regarding issues relating to maintenance, complaints, etc. If the issue is an emergency, the Security Guard must bring this matter to the attention of the Building Supervisor (Mr Chris Rohoutas) who will assist ASAP.

  1. BUILDING UPGRADE/PROJECTS

We will be planning new projects for next year as well and you will be advised via the next newsletter about these.

  1. RENOVATIONS TO INDIVIDUAL UNITS (NO WORK DURING 15 DECEMBER TO 15 JANUARY)

All residents need to be guided by the Body Corporate rules when undertaking renovations, which include:

  1. Notify the Body Corporate in writing of their intentions and pay the deposit of R10,000.00 to CST Managing Agents. Under NO circumstance may work commence without the necessary permission and the payment of the deposit being made.The Body Corporate must be informed of the extent of the renovations, and the period that is planned so that all residents, especially the immediate neighbours, are kept appraised at all times. In the case where structural change within the unit is required, this will necessitate approval by the body corporate approved Engineer at cost to the individual owners.
  2. It is the renovating resident’s duty to ensure that all renovations are carried out in a manner that does not cause unnecessary distress to other residents, especially those with poor health and the elderly.
  3. The renovations should also be completed within the advised timelines and where an extension may be required,written permission must be sought from the Trustees. Note that in consideration for the other residents’, please do not carry out any work after 15 December to 15 January as most people are on leave and do not wish to be bothered with unnecessary noise. Further, this has been recorded in our AGM minutes held in April this year.
  1. Ensure that personal responsibility for the renovations, even if a contractor is employed. The area outside the flat where renovations are taking place must cleaned at all times, out of respect for other residents. Please be mindful and considerate of the elderly and ill.
  1. The Body Corporate may also request you to delay renovations should there be other renovations taking place on the same floor, out of consideration for others and also to reduce/control noise.

Remember this is what communal living is about.

  1. WEBSITE

We would like to thank Zaid Mahomedy for the wonderful work on our website which is now live you would like to add any content, propose changes, or request the password to view trustees meeting minutes (owners only), please email

If you are going to become a regular contributor, please liaise with Zaid for the content to included on the website.

Right now, we are particularly looking for old pictures and any personal stories you may have of the building for inclusion.

  1. PARKING

Note that the parking garages are NO SMOKING areas please.

  • WEST GARAGE:

We will very shortly be undertaking the painting of the parking bays and signs in this garage. Please bear with us whilst the painting takes place?

Please can we appeal to all of you to use your headlamps in both east and west garages for safety for easy visibility .

N.B. It is a security risk to allow anyone other than a resident to park in the residents’ parking. This must only be done with the express permission of the trustees and this will be allowed on an exceptional basis only.

Guards have been advised not allow any non-resident with immediate effect unless permission has been granted by the trustees.

N.B.Illegal parkers will have their wheels clamped!

  • EAST GARAGE:

Parking for resident guests/visitors may be arranged with the security guard.

Monthly parking arrangements must be arranged and paid for in advance.

  1. 6TH FLOOR OCCUPATION

This area is receiving high attention and is being randomly monitored.Kindly advise the trustees should you desire to let out your room. This can only be done when required by another resident.

Please under NO circumstance may anyone rent the room to outsiders

  1. LIFTS

Thanks for keeping our lifts clean!

  1. TV RECEPTION

Note that all new TV connections must be done by ThysKritzinger, who can be contacted on 0825602866. Thys manages all the TV/DSTV connections in the building and is very knowledgeable.We have recently found that there have been a number of “illegal” connections and this is hampering the TV reception for others in the building.

Under NO circumstance may any connections be made without advising our Building Supervisor Chris(082 966 7662). We may be forced to levy penalties against any offenders.

  1. KALLVEST SECURITY GUARDS and SECURITY

Feedback from the residents is that the service is good, and the security guards are always on duty and courteous. Please report any concerns to the trustees in writing if you experience any issues with the guards.

We have also contacted the Hillbrow Police (Captain Moonsamy) who very kindly did an appraisal our security of our building. Whilst he advised that we had very good security, he informed us that residents especially on the “lower” floors (1,2,3) need to ensure that their windows are closed at night especially if they do not have burglar bars. Floors 4 and 5 residents also urged to exercise vigilance.

Further, for By Law issues (JMPD issues) i.e. vendors, soccer playing in the roads and Taxi’s etc,Captain Moonsamy also mentioned that residents report complaints to JMPD at 011 348 1000. He also mentioned that the more complaints that were made, the greater the chance that the matter would receive attention. So please call as much as you like !

NOTE: The cell number for the Hillbrow Patrol van is 071 675 6001

  1. ENIGMA CLEANERS

The cleaners / gardeners are working well, as can be seen by the cleanliness of the building, and the appearance of the gardens. Please know that we all play a role in keeping our building clean. Thank you to those residents who do not litter the corridors and lifts.

  1. PIGEONS

The Body Corporate recently spent many thousands of rand to seal off the stacks from the invasion of pigeons living inside them. We have communicated before to the residents on the health threat that pigeons pose. They are regarded as vermin and are correctly known as “flying rats.”

After all this effort and money was invested in eradicating the problem we still have one or two residents who regularly feed the pigeons. They do this within the atriums. This causes the pigeons to collect in numbers and this creates filth and excrement on the sills and the fire escapes. This exposes the community to health risk and pestilence.

Precious water resources have to be used to try to keep the atriums clean and health free, but it is a losing battle when the pigeons are being fed daily. There is a health cost to the residents and a financial cost to the Body Corporate.

We appeal on behalf of the community to those responsible to cease this habit

Failure to do so will result in action being taken by the Body Corporate and the offending parties named and shamed!!!

If you feel strongly about the welfare of the pigeons and other vermin, then feel free to go to the to the Johannesburg Zoo or donate to the Birdlife SA or the Wildlife Fund, but please be considerate of your fellow neighbours as well !

  1. REFUSE REMOVAL / RECYCLING

Please continue to keep the area where the refuse is kept clean, by not overfilling the bins. As recycling has been part of Dukes Court for the last few years, we urge you please to co-operate by using the bins provided for this purpose. i.e.

Glass

Plastic

Cardboard

Kindly co-operate with this initiative and where domestics are used to take the refuse to this area, please ensure that they are aware of this. Also request that they use the empty bins on the inside and not just throw the dirt in the bins at the entrance and inconvenience all.

  1. LITTER AND CIGARETTE STUBS

We have noticed that people are throwing litter (paper and cigarette stubs) into the courtyards.

PLEASE can we appeal to you, and your in some instances, your guests not to do this please

Treat this area as part of our common dwelling place and please let’s keep it CLEAN!

  1. ELECTRONIC/ELECTRICAL WASTE DISPOSAL

We will be planning an electronic/electrical waste disposal asPikitup will be providing this service to us. Please therefore keep all your old redundant appliances, computers, printers that you would like to dispose of and we will advise of the date on which this collection will take place.

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  1. ELECTRICITY USAGE / LIGHT OUTAGES

Lighting of the corridors is monitored by the Chris Rohoutas. If you notice a bulb not working, kindly report this to the Security guard at the Front Desk who will accordingly pass the request to Chris

Please do your utmost to keep your electricity usage down to the bare minimum and we can save all of us from experiencing power outages and thousands of rand, as electricity is becoming increasingly expensive.

  1. HEALTH AND SAFETY

We recently engaged Flick Pest Control to assist with the rodent problem. They will be doing quarterly spraying for rodents. Killarney has a rodent problem and with the impending the municipal strikes and we have engaged them for ants and cockroaches.

We recommend that all residents use Flick for inside their dwelling as this will ensure that pests do not travel from one unit to another. Contact Telephone Number 011444 1033. Please note that this will be for your own cost.

  1. OVERNIGHT REFUSE

Please be advised that you should not leave your refuse in the corridor overnight and over weekends after the advised times, as this may result in rats and cockroaches, and is very unsightly and unhygienic.

  1. RESIDENT INFORMATION

For emergencies and in need where urgent contact may be required, please keep us updated of your contact telephone or mobile number, and your next of kin contact name and number.

If you are on email – please send us your email address.

You may use the resident’s information form which is available from the Security Guard at the East side.

  1. PERSONAL POST AND POST BOXES

Kindly ensure that you empty out your post regularly as we have noticed quite a few overflowing and unsightly mail boxes.

CONCLUSION

Please watch out for our next newsletter as we will be keeping you updated on all the happenings at Dukes Court.

Thanks to all the residents for their co-operation and support.

Our vision is to ensure that Dukes Court continues to remain the building of choice in Killarney.

The Trustees would like to wish all well over the festive season and please take care when travelling.

We wish you and your families a very prosperous 2014!

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