Homelessness, the increasing number of excavation requiring reinstatements, and alleged drug dealing in Rosebank were among the items that were discussed on May 28 at the Rosebank Management District stakeholder meeting at Southern Sun Rosebank.

Cheering the stakeholder meeting was district manager Mikhaela Donaldson.

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Donaldson highlighted the first-quarter overview of the Rosebank Management District, which included Egoli gas’ new pipe project for Rosebank, card scamming incidents eliminated from the precinct’s public spaces, public furnisher vandalism on the rise, blitz operations positive outcomes, bollard installation projects, resolution rate for logged issues siting at 70%, and stakeholders involvement on the upkeep of the precinct.

Grievances that stood out included a growing number of homeless people in the node, the deteriorating condition of parks, and alleged drug-dealing near schools and restaurants.

Addressing these concerns was Warrant officer Bongi Mdletshe, from Rosebank Police Station.

“SAPS is aware of the drug-dealing allegations that are being made, but in the past our members only confiscated weed or dagga from people who were suspected to be dealing illegal substances.”

Mdletshe added that the station had conducive operations every Friday, which included private securities.

“Our operations include parks as well. We also work with the Immaculata Shelter to address the homelessness issue, but they also cannot force people to be in shelters if they don’t wish to.”

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The warrant officer noted that they were also aware of card scamming in the node, and were working with other stakeholders to locate the suspects who were behind the crime.

Municipal engagements included:

• Environmental health: Continuous support from the entity, more collaborations to follow.
• Johannesburg tourism: Responsible for tourism ambassadors we see in the precinct, instrumental in getting additional law enforcement to the node.
• SAPS and CPF: Collaborations of joint morning parades and special operations are ongoing. High visibility when there are pickets in the precinct.
• JRA: The response time could be better, grateful that most of the urgent matters have been resolved.
• City Parks: Trees have been pruned in preparation of the strong winds we are set to experience this winter. More plants to be planted on the precinct’s islands. Good relationship or partnership with the park adoptees.
• Crum: The introduction of a new urban inspector to the ward has brought on an improved way of escalating municipal issues.
• Pikitup: Collections remain on schedule. Only a handful of collections were late this year.
• Johannesburg Water: Response time is still an issue for most logged calls. Reinstatements remain a big concern throughout the region.

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Stakeholder initiatives, in collaboration with Rosebank Management District, included:

• Hyde Hotel Staff were part of a clean-up once a month in various places of the precinct.
• The Zone management has helped to fix a pothole that remained unattended for an extended period of time.
• Total Energies played a huge role in making Rosebank SAPS offices have a cleaner and fresher look.
• The RMD cleaning and maintenance team assisted with backfilling open trenches and reinstating paving bricks on Baker Street.
• City Power replaced a damaged electrical cable and removed homeless people’s items from the walkways during clean-up operations with SAPS.

Rosebank District Management’s next quarterly stakeholder meeting will be held in September.

Interested stakeholders can follow the management district on social media for the exact date, which will be shared closer to time.

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