Rivonia Wide Residents Association urges community to support local service delivery drive
The non-profit organisation used its annual general meeting to highlight pressing local issues, including abandoned properties, informal trading and unauthorised hotels.
The chairperson of the Rivonia Wide Residents Association, Paul Müller, has urged locals to volunteer their time and money to preserve the area and address municipal service delivery failures.
Müller made the call at the association’s annual general meeting (AGM) at Rivonia Village Hall on October 17, where members received updates on the organisation’s ongoing projects and finances.
He said the AGM provided an opportunity to account to members for the association’s work, discuss priorities and explore ways to encourage greater participation from the wider community. “We need people to help. We need their body, we need their time, but we also need their money,” he said.
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He explained that the association relies on members who contribute financially and volunteer their time, as well as ordinary general members who form part of the broader community it represents.
According to Müller, increased participation and resources would enable the association to advance projects aimed at beautifying Rivonia, maintaining public spaces and preserving facilities that serve the community.
This year’s AGM was particularly significant because it coincided with the unveiling of a Johannesburg Community Heritage plaque at Rivonia Village Hall, which has stood since 1951. Müller said the plaque was an important step in safeguarding the historic building.
Beyond heritage preservation, the association wants to strengthen its relationship with the City of Johannesburg to establish a working partnership through which the municipality and residents can work together to address local needs. “We want to find a way to engage with the city in a way that there’s a partnership whereby they can support us and we can support our own community,” said Müller.
The meeting also provided an opportunity to reflect on challenges arising from municipal service delivery, broader social issues and limited community involvement, while looking for practical solutions.
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Müller identified abandoned properties and properties allegedly being used as hotels without the necessary zoning or permissions as among the suburb’s biggest concerns.
Informal trading and taxi-related commuter activity were also raised as issues requiring greater co-ordination. “We recognise that these are a very important part of the community. We want to work with the city to formalise that, structure it, put it in a place where everybody benefits, but at the same time it doesn’t detract from the community and the law enforcement,” he said. “There is quite a lot of diversity in our community and there is quite a lot of cross-cultural, not conflict, but discourse that happens.
“We need the assistance of the city to navigate these issues and find solutions that consider the interests of the broader community.”
Müller emphasised that addressing Rivonia’s challenges would require more than raising concerns with the municipality. He said greater involvement would help the association pursue its beautification and maintenance projects, protect community assets and strengthen its ability to represent residents in engagements with the city.
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