Sipho Ngcobo* slept on the streets and had a substance abuse problem.
“If someone gave me food, clothes or money, I’d sell the food and clothes and use all the money to buy my next fix,” he says.
Then he met U-turn Homeless Organisation and his life changed. They enrolled him in their 4-phase programme. First, they put him through three months of rehab and helped him beat his addiction.
He has been clean now for 13 months. “Phase two helped me understand that I did this to myself. I stopped acting like a victim and started believing in my own ability again.”
The programme also gave him basic computer training and helped him get a driver’s licence. Today he works in the U-turn charity shop and is paid a stipend and has gone back to live with his family in Soweto.
Buy vouchers
U-turn encourages people to buy vouchers for people living on the street instead of giving them money, clothes or food directly which can just feed their substance addiction.
A pack of four vouchers costs R50 and each voucher gives a person a choice of a shower, clothing or a meal which they can redeem at a U-turn branch in Northcliff. You can purchase these vouchers at Tshepo Community Development Initiative in Northcliff or U-turn in Melville.
Donate
See here to find out about some organisations that are supporting the homeless in our area and what kinds of help they need. (This list excludes the big, well-known organisations e.g. Gift of the Givers etc.)
Then there’s the Let’s Work project in Ward 88 that is continuing with their daily parks patrols “advising [those sleeping there] that it is against the bylaws to live/bathe/cook in a park or public open space and that if anyone is needing assistance with going to a shelter, we are there to help,” says Let’s Work’s Felicity Gratz-Lawlor.
The Let’s Work team employs people who were once on the street and helps to move on those breaking the bylaws in the parks
Recently they also organised their team to do a night patrol in the open green spaces below the Emmarentia Dam.
The NPO always welcomes donations so that they can continue to help clean up suburbs and keep educating the homeless.
Shelters
There are shelters that you can refer the homeless to but these are in short supply. The two closest are: Immaculata Hall at 17 Sturdee Road, Rosebank (011 447 9801) and the government’s Windsor West shelter, 21 Knights Ave. (073 253 1524/011 478 7009)
Ideas?
If anyone knows other organisations that help, please e-mail us on info@era.org.za and we will add them to the list on the website.
* Not his real name.
*****
What’s inside
At ERA’s AGM in October, we were asked many questions by those that attended. Much of this newsletter tries to answer some of these.
One of the biggest concerns people raised is how to deal with the homeless and those less fortunate than ourselves, especially after the vast majority of people who were living illegally at the Parkhurst Bowls Club were evicted.
The authorities are encouraging us not to help those sleeping rough.
This doesn’t sit well with many of us. Most of us have been taught from Day 1 that we must help others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. The message has been reinforced by all the diverse religions that we belong to.
And that makes it difficult for us not to give when someone comes to our gate needing food, money or clothes. Ngcobo’s story on this page tells us that this may not be the best response.
Instead we’ve given you other ideas of how you can help without exacerbating a person’s substance abuse problem.
And if you see someone camped illegally in the open green spaces at night, call your security company, JMPD on 011 490 1538/011 375 5911 or SAPS on 071 675 6065.
ERA newsletter
Great news is that experienced copy writer, editor and trainer, Felicity Levine, has joined ERA’s EXCO and is helping to edit and write stories and is willing to give free writing and editing help to anyone that submits. Send us your stories to info@era.org.za or contact Felicity directly on 082 859 3118.
*********
Water woes continue – time to be active
As many suburbs (including Emmarentia) sit for the fourth day without water or just a trickle, a protest took place on Wednesday 27 in Westbury and another is planned for Thursday 28 November. (see the poster)
Read JoburgCAN’s Julia Fish’s succinct analysis of why Joburg has a water crisis in its March 2024 newsletter.
Ferrial Adam, herself an Emmarentia resident and CEO of WaterCAN, told residents at the recent ERA AGM that the time for sitting back and waiting for the water problems to be solved was over. Her graphics on the right put it clearly.
Since the AGM, Emmarentia’s Vaunn Kelly has agreed to work with ERA and focus on the water issue to try and get to the bottom of the particular problems that we experience in this suburb and to try and find solutions.
Kelly sent key questions to the MMC of environment and infrastructure, Cllr Jack Sekwaila. See the brief answers that were received Emmarentia water blues below.
Help needed
Contact us on info@era.org.za if you’d like to help us get on top of our water crisis or join a water action.
****
Mute, mute Marks Park!
Emmarentia residents have been up in arms about noisy weekend concerts held at Marks Park. This emerged strongly at the ERA AGM in October. Who gets the revenue and what would happen if we clamped down on weekend concerts, residents wanted to know. Emmarentia Post spoke to Marks Park’s treasurer and acting manager, Antony Brady.
The beautiful old Marks Park clubhouse was once the home of Frans Geldenhuys and his family. Built in 1904 it has heritage status. Today it is an NPO, Marks Park Sports Club (MPSC), with a 20-year lease from the City. Sports on offer range from kettlebells, wrestling, tennis, LSM cricket, cricket, rugby, croquet, archery, baseball, and recently padel tennis.
Here is the rub: Like all old buildings Marks Park needs maintenance and it is struggling to pay the bills. About a quarter of its annual income (close to R7m in 2023) comes from the City of Johannesburg, says MPSC acting manager and treasurer, Antony Brady. The rest needs to be raised from Club membership fees, individual clubhouse rental and hire of sports facilities.
Budgeted income goes to maintaining the historical building with its ageing infrastructure, sewerage and water pipes and roads. The balance goes to paying staff and insurance on the buildings and utilities.
“Since 2019 we have spent more than R2m maintaining underground infrastructure, buildings and roads,” maintains Brady. “City Parks depot, adjacent to Marks Park, brings in heavy trucks and tractors which damage our roads.”
Budgeting for “improved water management” is also on their future spending agenda given the problems the entire Emmarentia is facing.
Lucrative events
According to Brady weekend concerts and large sporting events like the Spar Race are lucrative events. However even here, “sometimes the COJ informs us they are ‘in partnership’ with the event organiser and they take the entire usage fee or reduce it considerably. He estimates that Marks Park loses approximately R500 000 a year from subsidising events.
While the new Padel courts look like a good income earner, Brady says the courts were financed and developed by a private company which pays a monthly usage fee to Marks Park. Other clubs with Padel courts rely on income from the sale of alcohol to these players to boost the Club’s income. However Brady believes the vast majority of Padel players are non-drinkers.
Ban the concerts?
“The Club would battle to survive without the concerts that take place,” says Brady. Moreover, COJ is “bankrupt and is giving less and less assistance while making more demands for use of facilities without paying fees,” he says. Without income from the concerts, “The Club would have to push up the membership fees considerably, and increase the venue hire fees to try and cover any shortfall. All of this would impact the sporting sections. Perhaps people can leave an endowment in their Will to the Club?”
Brady says that concert organisers are amenable to investing money to try and lessen the impact of concerts on residents, more specifically the noise.
ERA is working hard to ensure big events manage illegal carguards who often encourage attendees to park illegally
Best practice
In the meantime, ERA is working hard to get event organisers to comply with best practice: proper management of parking and illegal carguards, litter, noise etc. to reduce the impact on residents.
*****
Events—Nov/Dec 2024
Botanic Gardens
30 Nov-1 Dec – Linden Market
Marks Park
30 November – J Cooper
******
Where does Johannesburg Botanic Gardens income from events go?
Dr. Vuyokazi Nkomo, executive manager, business development, Joburg City Parks, responds
All revenue generated in the City and not limited to events, is deposited in a central account managed by the CoJ’s treasury department. On an annual basis, the city then allocates a fixed budget for operations and capital infrastructure. Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo cannot utilise the income generated from the leasing out of its facilities and this is the same for income generated from burials, cremations, entrance to the zoo, etc.
While the City is not dependent on revenue generated from events, it is critical that effective use of public spaces is encouraged to foster cohesion, celebrate the arts, provide residents with outdoor entertainment for their well-being and to seek partnerships to alleviate the financial burden by JCPZ, of hosting well-managed events.
Limit events
In the case of the Johannesburg Botanic Gardens (JBG), the events team has supported the call to limit events and only one large event is allowed per quarter. We are however going into the festive season and anticipate an increase in visitor numbers over the next two months. All gatherings of over 20 people need to apply and pay the required minimum to secure a letter of approval.
Residents living in close proximity to the JBG are kindly requested to be tolerant. JCPZ has increased the number of security personnel deployed to the facility and will act decisively on transgressions.
Residents can report transgressions to JMPD on 011 375 5911.
*****
Why do residents still pay a fee to the Louw Geldenhuys Family?
Where does the money go?
Emmarentia suburb was established as a township on 28 April 1937 on land owned by Lourens Geldenhuys. After he passed away, his widow and heir, Emmarentia Margaretha Geldenhuys (nee Botha) and her successors developed the land, becoming the “township owner” as recorded in the Deeds Office.
Each property in Emmarentia contained title deed conditions that stated that the township owner must give permission for certain things. Over the years the successors in township title were various Geldenhuys family members.
Township owner rights
As each property is sold and transferred to a new owner, our national title deeds system carries over the previous conditions and so to this day, the Geldenhuys Family (for convenience we call it the Louw Geldenhuys Family or LGF) retains rights in the title deeds as the “township owner”. In your title deeds you will see that the township owner is referred to as the ‘applicant’.
Conditions
While it is the legal responsibility of the City to approve building plans, there are conditions in each of our title deeds that require the township owner to grant permission first. One condition is that plans for house alterations must first be taken to the Louw Geldenhuys Family for ‘approval’ and thereafter submitted to the local authority.
There are also conditions stipulating that the roofing material must be slate, tiles, thatch or shingles unless the township owner gives consent to other materials. Other clauses prescribe the position of outbuildings and the distance you may erect a structure from the street boundary.
All these conditions have contributed to the way the suburb has developed and is maintained to this day. Importantly, the title deed conditions give us extra protection of our property rights compared to an area that does not have an active township owner.
ERA acts on behalf of the LGF / township owner/ applicant and endorses the building plans for the convenience of residents. The process takes time, expertise to assess the conditions that will be applicable, and consultation. The LGF, even before ERA began assisting them, has always charged a fee for this.
Fees
Other areas that still have active township owners charge much higher fees than the LGF. The fee is calculated based on floor area of the alterations you are adding; the minimum fee is R1 400.00. This fee is then shared by the LGF, ERA and the expert who assesses the plans on their behalf.
ERA uses the funds for improvements in Emmarentia e.g. for paying to clear invasive alien plants in the Adopt a Park area.
New Stop signs took years of emails / accident reports and a petition to JRA – supported by Cllr at the time, Bridget Steer.
From Judith Ancer, Greenside RA.
What can be done about the revving and racing of cars late at night?
Please share any video or photo evidence of licence plates of transgressors with info@era.org.za and report to JMPD and SAPS.
Updates
· Top dam repairs
Emmarentia residents expressed concerns to City Parks that the outflow on the top dam was not level so water was favouring the lower side and risked undermining the new dam wall. The high amount of debris from the construction was also registered.
Jane Eagle, a retired City official says “the project engineers are aware of the minor adjustment required to the spillway level to ensure even flow and has advised on an additional gabion for reinforcement.”
We will be keeping an eye on it to see if the adjustments are done. Let us know if you have any other concerns.
· Beware—more fraud
The Parkview CPF is warning that fraudsters are now contacting those who have once before been the victims of fraud. They pretend they want to help the victim get back the money they lost. In doing so, they defraud the victims again! Be careful out there.
· Get rid of old appliances responsibly
If you’ve got an old fridge, washing machine etc. please do not put it on your pavement or give it to waste-pickers. They can’t recycle all of it and what they can’t sell often ends up in our green spaces. Rather call Pikitup on 011 375 5555. They will come and remove it for free.
· Adopt a Park
While ERA waits for official feedback from the City about its request to adopt the open space below Emmarentia Dam, “ERA is pushing ahead with projects to improve the park,” reports ERA’s Saber Manjoo.
Together with City Parks, overgrown trees were trimmed down and City Parks is mowing the grass every 6 weeks. Residents have cut down a grove of invasive bamboo and are keeping it short. Special thanks to Moe Omarjee on Limpopo and his gardener.
Thanks also to Erica, Nadia and Suresh who have been clearing up overgrowth on trees in the park in front of their homes. As a result “the park looks much neater and visibility has improved tremendously, and the spruit is in full flow!”
“Take a walk, go for a run, ride a MTB, take the dogs out and soak in the beauty of the area,” he urges.
Any sponsors e.g. sponsor your gardener, or if you’d like to join a clean-up day, please contact Saber Manjoo 084 799 7860 info@era.org.za
****
Louw Geldenhuys (1864 – 1929) wreath laying on 31 August 2024
Emmarentia’s founder remembered
By: Felicity Levine
As children, we used to peek through the wrought iron gate of the Geldenhuys family cemetery, on our way home from Emmarentia Primary School. We were overawed by all the infant graves, touched by the one that cradled Baba Geldenhuys. I can still see the grey marble and the cherub on the tombstone.
Then over half a century later I received an electronic invitation to a wreath laying at the same small cemetery. It was to commemorate the death of family head and philanthropist, Louw Geldenhuys.
Louw died suddenly of a heart attack on 31 August 1929. He was only 65, yet well above the average age of male death at the time which was 56.
Now on a chilly Saturday morning at the end of August, a group of about 20 is gathering around his tombstone to pay tribute to the man who owned the land that became Emmarentia and Greenside.
Louw’s grandchildren
Fittingly Louw’s great grandchildren are present. There is Anchen Dreyer, Thomas Dreyer and Deon van der Merwe with his son, Francois.
Louw’s great grandchildren, Anchen Dreyer and Thomas Dreyer, stand near the family’s graves with the priest, Charles Rademeyer
There are members of civil society organisations – Jenny Grice and Gemey Abrahams of the Emmarentia Resident’s Association and Wendy Carstens, chairperson of the Friends of Melville Koppies Nature Reserve and Heritage Site.
The little cemetery is stark, but the experience profoundly unifying. Charles Rademeyer, event organiser and spokesperson for the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations (FAK) opens the ceremony. Anchen Dreyer, his great-granddaughter makes an impassioned speech.
“I feel proud and sad at the same time,” she says. “I am proud of my great-grandfather’s legacy of giving and helping others. I am inspired to live up to it. But I am sad when I think of all the suffering they endured.”
Louw gave agency and restored dignity to many Afrikaners left destitute. After the war he employed landless farmers to construct Emmarentia Dam. He also portioned off plots for 100 families to build houses and cultivate produce on what is now Emmarentia and Greenside.
Geldenhuys family history
Back at the little cemetery there are many infant graves with faded plaques and cracked tombstones. The 1918 flu epidemic may seem far removed, but you can see it in this graveyard. Louw and his wife Emmarentia had 15 children, but only eight survived. Imagine parents who have buried child after child after child, and suddenly diphtheria and whooping cough and infant mortality are real.
Louw himself was one of three sons of Lourens Geldenhuys, a gold prospector, farmer and land owner. It was 1886 and gold had been discovered on the Witwatersrand, on a farm called Langlaagte. Prospectors flocked to the area and it was the start of early Johannesburg.
The farm, Braamfontein had been acquired by Bezuidenhout in the 1860s. This was a huge chunk of land stretching from Victory Park and Rosebank in the north, across to Killarney in the east and then down to Commissioner Street in the south, southwest to Mayfair and Coronationville and north-west up to the base of Northcliff ridge.
Part of the Braamfontein Farm
Lourens bought the eastern part of the farm for £4 500 in 1886 and gave it to his two sons, Frans and Louw. The Marks Park Clubhouse, on the slopes of Melville Koppies, was originally the home of Frans Geldenhuys and his wife Judith (Grobbelaar); Lourens’s son Louw, married Emmarentia Margaretha Botha and built a large house which still stands on Greenhill Road.
After Louw’s death in 1929, his family sold the farm to developers. Greenside was laid out in 1931 and Emmarentia in 1937.
Now the ceremony is ending. Wreaths are laid on Emmarentia and Louw Geldenhuys’s graves. The tombstones are balanced on top of one another. Seeing he passed away first, Louw’s is below, supporting that of his wife, Emmarentia. She passed away in 1938.
Charles Rademeyer reads Psalm 18 and prays. “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge……”
Keeping a watchful eye
Behind one of the graves two Spotted Thick Knee birds (Burhinus Capensis) stare at us unblinkingly. They have intense, large yellow eyes, round speckled bodies and long yellow legs. Spiritually they signify vigilance and awareness. Jungian psychologist, Dr Elena M Rivera, says Spotted Thick Knees encourage us to delve into our own depths, awaken our intuitive abilities and become conscious of unseen energies and opportunities.
These two enigmatic night birds keep watchful eyes over the tombstones.
Leave a Comment
Last Updated: 27th November 2024 by Jenny Grice
Emmarentia Post, No 4, November 2024
How can we help the homeless?
Sipho Ngcobo* slept on the streets and had a substance abuse problem.
“If someone gave me food, clothes or money, I’d sell the food and clothes and use all the money to buy my next fix,” he says.
Then he met U-turn Homeless Organisation and his life changed. They enrolled him in their 4-phase programme. First, they put him through three months of rehab and helped him beat his addiction.
He has been clean now for 13 months. “Phase two helped me understand that I did this to myself. I stopped acting like a victim and started believing in my own ability again.”
The programme also gave him basic computer training and helped him get a driver’s licence. Today he works in the U-turn charity shop and is paid a stipend and has gone back to live with his family in Soweto.
Buy vouchers
U-turn encourages people to buy vouchers for people living on the street instead of giving them money, clothes or food directly which can just feed their substance addiction.
A pack of four vouchers costs R50 and each voucher gives a person a choice of a shower, clothing or a meal which they can redeem at a U-turn branch in Northcliff. You can purchase these vouchers at Tshepo Community Development Initiative in Northcliff or U-turn in Melville.
Donate
See here to find out about some organisations that are supporting the homeless in our area and what kinds of help they need. (This list excludes the big, well-known organisations e.g. Gift of the Givers etc.)
Then there’s the Let’s Work project in Ward 88 that is continuing with their daily parks patrols “advising [those sleeping there] that it is against the bylaws to live/bathe/cook in a park or public open space and that if anyone is needing assistance with going to a shelter, we are there to help,” says Let’s Work’s Felicity Gratz-Lawlor.
Recently they also organised their team to do a night patrol in the open green spaces below the Emmarentia Dam.
The NPO always welcomes donations so that they can continue to help clean up suburbs and keep educating the homeless.
Shelters
There are shelters that you can refer the homeless to but these are in short supply. The two closest are: Immaculata Hall at 17 Sturdee Road, Rosebank (011 447 9801) and the government’s Windsor West shelter, 21 Knights Ave. (073 253 1524/011 478 7009)
Ideas?
If anyone knows other organisations that help, please e-mail us on info@era.org.za and we will add them to the list on the website.
* Not his real name.
*****
What’s inside
At ERA’s AGM in October, we were asked many questions by those that attended. Much of this newsletter tries to answer some of these.
One of the biggest concerns people raised is how to deal with the homeless and those less fortunate than ourselves, especially after the vast majority of people who were living illegally at the Parkhurst Bowls Club were evicted.
The authorities are encouraging us not to help those sleeping rough.
This doesn’t sit well with many of us. Most of us have been taught from Day 1 that we must help others, especially those less fortunate than ourselves. The message has been reinforced by all the diverse religions that we belong to.
And that makes it difficult for us not to give when someone comes to our gate needing food, money or clothes. Ngcobo’s story on this page tells us that this may not be the best response.
Instead we’ve given you other ideas of how you can help without exacerbating a person’s substance abuse problem.
And if you see someone camped illegally in the open green spaces at night, call your security company, JMPD on 011 490 1538/011 375 5911 or SAPS on 071 675 6065.
ERA newsletter
Great news is that experienced copy writer, editor and trainer, Felicity Levine, has joined ERA’s EXCO and is helping to edit and write stories and is willing to give free writing and editing help to anyone that submits. Send us your stories to info@era.org.za or contact Felicity directly on 082 859 3118.
*********
Water woes continue – time to be active
As many suburbs (including Emmarentia) sit for the fourth day without water or just a trickle, a protest took place on Wednesday 27 in Westbury and another is planned for Thursday 28 November. (see the poster)
Read JoburgCAN’s Julia Fish’s succinct analysis of why Joburg has a water crisis in its March 2024 newsletter.
Ferrial Adam, herself an Emmarentia resident and CEO of WaterCAN, told residents at the recent ERA AGM that the time for sitting back and waiting for the water problems to be solved was over. Her graphics on the right put it clearly.
Since the AGM, Emmarentia’s Vaunn Kelly has agreed to work with ERA and focus on the water issue to try and get to the bottom of the particular problems that we experience in this suburb and to try and find solutions.
Kelly sent key questions to the MMC of environment and infrastructure, Cllr Jack Sekwaila. See the brief answers that were received Emmarentia water blues below.
Help needed
Contact us on info@era.org.za if you’d like to help us get on top of our water crisis or join a water action.
****
Mute, mute Marks Park!
Emmarentia residents have been up in arms about noisy weekend concerts held at Marks Park. This emerged strongly at the ERA AGM in October. Who gets the revenue and what would happen if we clamped down on weekend concerts, residents wanted to know. Emmarentia Post spoke to Marks Park’s treasurer and acting manager, Antony Brady.
The beautiful old Marks Park clubhouse was once the home of Frans Geldenhuys and his family. Built in 1904 it has heritage status. Today it is an NPO, Marks Park Sports Club (MPSC), with a 20-year lease from the City. Sports on offer range from kettlebells, wrestling, tennis, LSM cricket, cricket, rugby, croquet, archery, baseball, and recently padel tennis.
Here is the rub: Like all old buildings Marks Park needs maintenance and it is struggling to pay the bills. About a quarter of its annual income (close to R7m in 2023) comes from the City of Johannesburg, says MPSC acting manager and treasurer, Antony Brady. The rest needs to be raised from Club membership fees, individual clubhouse rental and hire of sports facilities.
Budgeted income goes to maintaining the historical building with its ageing infrastructure, sewerage and water pipes and roads. The balance goes to paying staff and insurance on the buildings and utilities.
“Since 2019 we have spent more than R2m maintaining underground infrastructure, buildings and roads,” maintains Brady. “City Parks depot, adjacent to Marks Park, brings in heavy trucks and tractors which damage our roads.”
Budgeting for “improved water management” is also on their future spending agenda given the problems the entire Emmarentia is facing.
Lucrative events
According to Brady weekend concerts and large sporting events like the Spar Race are lucrative events. However even here, “sometimes the COJ informs us they are ‘in partnership’ with the event organiser and they take the entire usage fee or reduce it considerably. He estimates that Marks Park loses approximately R500 000 a year from subsidising events.
While the new Padel courts look like a good income earner, Brady says the courts were financed and developed by a private company which pays a monthly usage fee to Marks Park. Other clubs with Padel courts rely on income from the sale of alcohol to these players to boost the Club’s income. However Brady believes the vast majority of Padel players are non-drinkers.
Ban the concerts?
“The Club would battle to survive without the concerts that take place,” says Brady. Moreover, COJ is “bankrupt and is giving less and less assistance while making more demands for use of facilities without paying fees,” he says. Without income from the concerts, “The Club would have to push up the membership fees considerably, and increase the venue hire fees to try and cover any shortfall. All of this would impact the sporting sections. Perhaps people can leave an endowment in their Will to the Club?”
Brady says that concert organisers are amenable to investing money to try and lessen the impact of concerts on residents, more specifically the noise.
Best practice
In the meantime, ERA is working hard to get event organisers to comply with best practice: proper management of parking and illegal carguards, litter, noise etc. to reduce the impact on residents.
*****
Events—Nov/Dec 2024
Botanic Gardens
30 Nov-1 Dec – Linden Market
Marks Park
30 November – J Cooper
******
Where does Johannesburg Botanic Gardens income from events go?
Dr. Vuyokazi Nkomo, executive manager, business development, Joburg City Parks, responds
All revenue generated in the City and not limited to events, is deposited in a central account managed by the CoJ’s treasury department. On an annual basis, the city then allocates a fixed budget for operations and capital infrastructure. Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo cannot utilise the income generated from the leasing out of its facilities and this is the same for income generated from burials, cremations, entrance to the zoo, etc.
While the City is not dependent on revenue generated from events, it is critical that effective use of public spaces is encouraged to foster cohesion, celebrate the arts, provide residents with outdoor entertainment for their well-being and to seek partnerships to alleviate the financial burden by JCPZ, of hosting well-managed events.
Limit events
In the case of the Johannesburg Botanic Gardens (JBG), the events team has supported the call to limit events and only one large event is allowed per quarter. We are however going into the festive season and anticipate an increase in visitor numbers over the next two months. All gatherings of over 20 people need to apply and pay the required minimum to secure a letter of approval.
Residents living in close proximity to the JBG are kindly requested to be tolerant. JCPZ has increased the number of security personnel deployed to the facility and will act decisively on transgressions.
Residents can report transgressions to JMPD on 011 375 5911.
*****
Why do residents still pay a fee to the Louw Geldenhuys Family?
Where does the money go?
Emmarentia suburb was established as a township on 28 April 1937 on land owned by Lourens Geldenhuys. After he passed away, his widow and heir, Emmarentia Margaretha Geldenhuys (nee Botha) and her successors developed the land, becoming the “township owner” as recorded in the Deeds Office.
Each property in Emmarentia contained title deed conditions that stated that the township owner must give permission for certain things. Over the years the successors in township title were various Geldenhuys family members.
Township owner rights
As each property is sold and transferred to a new owner, our national title deeds system carries over the previous conditions and so to this day, the Geldenhuys Family (for convenience we call it the Louw Geldenhuys Family or LGF) retains rights in the title deeds as the “township owner”. In your title deeds you will see that the township owner is referred to as the ‘applicant’.
Conditions
While it is the legal responsibility of the City to approve building plans, there are conditions in each of our title deeds that require the township owner to grant permission first. One condition is that plans for house alterations must first be taken to the Louw Geldenhuys Family for ‘approval’ and thereafter submitted to the local authority.
There are also conditions stipulating that the roofing material must be slate, tiles, thatch or shingles unless the township owner gives consent to other materials. Other clauses prescribe the position of outbuildings and the distance you may erect a structure from the street boundary.
All these conditions have contributed to the way the suburb has developed and is maintained to this day. Importantly, the title deed conditions give us extra protection of our property rights compared to an area that does not have an active township owner.
ERA acts on behalf of the LGF / township owner/ applicant and endorses the building plans for the convenience of residents. The process takes time, expertise to assess the conditions that will be applicable, and consultation. The LGF, even before ERA began assisting them, has always charged a fee for this.
Fees
Other areas that still have active township owners charge much higher fees than the LGF. The fee is calculated based on floor area of the alterations you are adding; the minimum fee is R1 400.00. This fee is then shared by the LGF, ERA and the expert who assesses the plans on their behalf.
ERA uses the funds for improvements in Emmarentia e.g. for paying to clear invasive alien plants in the Adopt a Park area.
For more details on the actual costs see here
By ERA’s town planning specialist, Gemey Abrahams
********
MORE QUESTIONS
How did Greenside get new Stop signs on Greenway?
New Stop signs took years of emails / accident reports and a petition to JRA – supported by Cllr at the time, Bridget Steer.
From Judith Ancer, Greenside RA.
What can be done about the revving and racing of cars late at night?
Please share any video or photo evidence of licence plates of transgressors with info@era.org.za and report to JMPD and SAPS.
Updates
· Top dam repairs
Emmarentia residents expressed concerns to City Parks that the outflow on the top dam was not level so water was favouring the lower side and risked undermining the new dam wall. The high amount of debris from the construction was also registered.
Jane Eagle, a retired City official says “the project engineers are aware of the minor adjustment required to the spillway level to ensure even flow and has advised on an additional gabion for reinforcement.”
We will be keeping an eye on it to see if the adjustments are done. Let us know if you have any other concerns.
· Beware—more fraud
The Parkview CPF is warning that fraudsters are now contacting those who have once before been the victims of fraud. They pretend they want to help the victim get back the money they lost. In doing so, they defraud the victims again! Be careful out there.
· Get rid of old appliances responsibly
If you’ve got an old fridge, washing machine etc. please do not put it on your pavement or give it to waste-pickers. They can’t recycle all of it and what they can’t sell often ends up in our green spaces. Rather call Pikitup on 011 375 5555. They will come and remove it for free.
· Adopt a Park
While ERA waits for official feedback from the City about its request to adopt the open space below Emmarentia Dam, “ERA is pushing ahead with projects to improve the park,” reports ERA’s Saber Manjoo.
Together with City Parks, overgrown trees were trimmed down and City Parks is mowing the grass every 6 weeks. Residents have cut down a grove of invasive bamboo and are keeping it short. Special thanks to Moe Omarjee on Limpopo and his gardener.
Thanks also to Erica, Nadia and Suresh who have been clearing up overgrowth on trees in the park in front of their homes. As a result “the park looks much neater and visibility has improved tremendously, and the spruit is in full flow!”
“Take a walk, go for a run, ride a MTB, take the dogs out and soak in the beauty of the area,” he urges.
Any sponsors e.g. sponsor your gardener, or if you’d like to join a clean-up day, please contact Saber Manjoo 084 799 7860 info@era.org.za
****
Louw Geldenhuys (1864 – 1929) wreath laying on 31 August 2024
Emmarentia’s founder remembered
By: Felicity Levine
As children, we used to peek through the wrought iron gate of the Geldenhuys family cemetery, on our way home from Emmarentia Primary School. We were overawed by all the infant graves, touched by the one that cradled Baba Geldenhuys. I can still see the grey marble and the cherub on the tombstone.
Then over half a century later I received an electronic invitation to a wreath laying at the same small cemetery. It was to commemorate the death of family head and philanthropist, Louw Geldenhuys.
Louw died suddenly of a heart attack on 31 August 1929. He was only 65, yet well above the average age of male death at the time which was 56.
Now on a chilly Saturday morning at the end of August, a group of about 20 is gathering around his tombstone to pay tribute to the man who owned the land that became Emmarentia and Greenside.
Louw’s grandchildren
Fittingly Louw’s great grandchildren are present. There is Anchen Dreyer, Thomas Dreyer and Deon van der Merwe with his son, Francois.
There are members of civil society organisations – Jenny Grice and Gemey Abrahams of the Emmarentia Resident’s Association and Wendy Carstens, chairperson of the Friends of Melville Koppies Nature Reserve and Heritage Site.
The little cemetery is stark, but the experience profoundly unifying. Charles Rademeyer, event organiser and spokesperson for the Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations (FAK) opens the ceremony. Anchen Dreyer, his great-granddaughter makes an impassioned speech.
“I feel proud and sad at the same time,” she says. “I am proud of my great-grandfather’s legacy of giving and helping others. I am inspired to live up to it. But I am sad when I think of all the suffering they endured.”
South African War
Louw and his older brother, Frans fought in the South African War , 1899 – 1902. The British scorched earth policy ravaged farms and put women and children in concentration camps. Many died of sickness and starvation.
Louw gave agency and restored dignity to many Afrikaners left destitute. After the war he employed landless farmers to construct Emmarentia Dam. He also portioned off plots for 100 families to build houses and cultivate produce on what is now Emmarentia and Greenside.
Geldenhuys family history
Back at the little cemetery there are many infant graves with faded plaques and cracked tombstones. The 1918 flu epidemic may seem far removed, but you can see it in this graveyard. Louw and his wife Emmarentia had 15 children, but only eight survived. Imagine parents who have buried child after child after child, and suddenly diphtheria and whooping cough and infant mortality are real.
Louw himself was one of three sons of Lourens Geldenhuys, a gold prospector, farmer and land owner. It was 1886 and gold had been discovered on the Witwatersrand, on a farm called Langlaagte. Prospectors flocked to the area and it was the start of early Johannesburg.
The farm, Braamfontein had been acquired by Bezuidenhout in the 1860s. This was a huge chunk of land stretching from Victory Park and Rosebank in the north, across to Killarney in the east and then down to Commissioner Street in the south, southwest to Mayfair and Coronationville and north-west up to the base of Northcliff ridge.
Part of the Braamfontein Farm
Lourens bought the eastern part of the farm for £4 500 in 1886 and gave it to his two sons, Frans and Louw. The Marks Park Clubhouse, on the slopes of Melville Koppies, was originally the home of Frans Geldenhuys and his wife Judith (Grobbelaar); Lourens’s son Louw, married Emmarentia Margaretha Botha and built a large house which still stands on Greenhill Road.
After Louw’s death in 1929, his family sold the farm to developers. Greenside was laid out in 1931 and Emmarentia in 1937.
Now the ceremony is ending. Wreaths are laid on Emmarentia and Louw Geldenhuys’s graves. The tombstones are balanced on top of one another. Seeing he passed away first, Louw’s is below, supporting that of his wife, Emmarentia. She passed away in 1938.
Charles Rademeyer reads Psalm 18 and prays. “I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge……”
Keeping a watchful eye
Behind one of the graves two Spotted Thick Knee birds (Burhinus Capensis) stare at us unblinkingly. They have intense, large yellow eyes, round speckled bodies and long yellow legs. Spiritually they signify vigilance and awareness. Jungian psychologist, Dr Elena M Rivera, says Spotted Thick Knees encourage us to delve into our own depths, awaken our intuitive abilities and become conscious of unseen energies and opportunities.
These two enigmatic night birds keep watchful eyes over the tombstones.
Category: Uncategorised
Search
Upcoming Events