Strong message for noisy neighbour

A Melville restaurant, Poppy’s, created a different buzz on the usually festive 7th Street after it was vandalised with graffiti, allegedly by a disgruntled resident.

The perpetrator was obviously disturbed by the noise and left the owner a message across the restaurant doors reading “stop making the noise”.

Owner Juby Raja described the incident as a racist attack by a person who could not accept the changing demographics of Melville.

“Ten years ago Melville was a white suburb but now it is 99.9 percent black and I cater for those black residents,” Raja retorted.

Raja further revealed that she has had frequent threats from an Afrikaans man who has been harassing her at her establishment for the genre of music she plays, but not the noise levels.

She claims the man verbally attacked her on Sunday night at around 7pm.

Brixton police’s Warrant Officer Rassie Smal does not believe that the vandalism was due to the type of music being played.

“If you read what the graffiti says it is clear that the residents are fed up with the noise problem,” said Smal.

“I tried to reason with the owner but for every request there is an excuse or it is turned into a racial issue,” he added.

Seventh Street establishments have been on top of the list where noise level complaints are concerned, to the dismay of Ward 87 councillor Amanda Forsythe.

“I am not entirely surprised by what happened, although Poppy’s is not the only establishment at fault,” Forsythe commented.

“This is what happens when the authorities don’t enforce the law; people either start taking the law into their own hands, or they start taking revenge out of sheer stress and frustration.”

“The problem with taking action against these rule-bending establishments is that the City [of Johannesburg] doesn’t push for closure unless there is no licence at all, instead they will just receive fine on top of fine,” Melville Sector Crime Forum’s Danyle Nunes explained.

Nunes warned against residents taking matters into their own hands, as this might exacerbate the situation.

“Everybody has a breaking point, today it’s spray paint. Tomorrow a fist fight with the owners. Two wrongs make it worse – not a right,” Nunes warned.

Editor’s note: Northcliff Melville Times agreed to an appointment with Raja. Upon arrival, Raja declined to comment, explaining that she had been advised by her lawyer not to share any further information.