For the people of Killarney, the daily soundtrack is no longer birdsong or passing traffic but the drone of minibus engines, blaring music, and the constant rise of arguments in the street.
For 17 years, residents have lived with an illegal taxi rank directly outside Killarney Mall on 1st Street, squeezed between Mentone and Dukes Court apartment blocks.
What began as a temporary stop has turned into a fixture, a public nuisance that residents said had destroyed their peace and tested their patience.
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“It’s not just the noise,” said long-time resident Ismail Randeree. “It’s the drinking, the urinating against garage doors, the blocked access to our homes. One neighbour has lived with this on her doorstep for 12 years. It’s unbearable.”
Taxis line both sides of the narrow road from morning to evening, blocking entrances, creating gridlock, and reducing the street to an open-air terminal with no shelter, no toilets and no dignity.
Hawkers set up braziers; food is cooked on the pavements, and on weekends, the space spills into impromptu parties. Buckets have been placed against garage doors and used as makeshift toilets, sometimes for a fee of R2 a turn.
Human waste has been found on the pavement. Residents said the streets were often strewn with litter and filled with the smell of cooking smoke and alcohol.
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Over the years, there have been arrests for drug possession, by-law violations for illegal trading and drinking, and countless fines issued for traffic offences, yet the taxis always return.
The Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) admits that enforcement has been sporadic and largely ineffective.
“We acknowledge that previous operations have not created a long-term solution,” spokesperson Xolani Fihla said, adding that the department was now working with the City’s Department of Transport to identify a formal public transport facility.
The city itself has come under fire for allowing the situation to persist.
Residents said calls to JMPD, SAPS, mall security, private security firms and even the ward councillor have produced little more than temporary relief.
Councillor Eleanor Huggett has repeatedly demanded urgent intervention, but with local elections looming in 2026, residents are asking how much longer they will be forced to endure the situation.
Despite the frustration, there is also recognition that commuters are suffering too. Every day, they queue in the heat or cold, with no roof over their heads and no facilities.
They are as much victims of the lack of planning as the residents themselves.
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The Killarney Residents Association has called for immediate enforcement of by-laws on 1st Street, a binding commitment to build a proper transport hub within the mall premises, and accountability from the city for years of neglect.
If nothing changes, residents said they were prepared to escalate matters, from boycotts of the mall to organised street protests and sustained media campaigns.
With news that the mall is now up for sale, there is a faint hope that new owners might succeed where the current management has failed. But for many, patience is running out.
“By the time new owners do their research and make their plans, we could still be living like this for years,” Randeree said.
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