Oude Westhof

Oude Westhof will become an even safer place  with the implementation of new streamlined  communication channels which will vastly improve armed response times in the case of emergencies.

Mr Morné Viljoen, trustee responsible for safety and security, says a special meeting was convened with the ADT Security Company to simplify emergency  communication channels and to speed up  emergency armed response times.

Please read the following information carefully and to ensure the safety of you and your family. Take note of the updated contact numbers and communication channels:

EMERGENCY SITUATIONS (Voice Calls Only)

• If/When there is any emergency situation, contact our dedicated Control Room directly. This is a dedicated telephone number with 2 x ADT officers on stand-by at all times ready to assist with incoming calls.
• Once a call comes in, the control room will immediately dispatch our dedicated armed response vehicle to your current confirmed location.
• The control room can and will at the same time escalate your call to SAPS and/or ambulance if needed.
• Kindly note – The armed response vehicle should only be contacted directly should you experience a problem contacting the control room mentioned above.

OW EMERGENCY

DIRECT VOICE CALL TO CONTROL ROOM = 086 1212 608

ARMED RESPONSE VEHICLE = 078 802 2250

SECURITY INFORMATION/CONCERNS (WhatsApp Only)

• This refers to our current OWH Security Emergency WhatsApp Group.
• This platform was created for one to share any security CONCERNS (i.e. suspicious behaviour in our OW area only)
• The name of the WhatsApp group will be updated to remove the word ‘emergency’ and now read “OW Security Information”
• Should you wish to report/post something –
  Simply take a photo of the concern and forward with a very short description (photo is optional depending on the situation).
• The Control Room is a member of this WhatsApp Group, and will monitor the group and take necessary action when a post comes through (i.e. dispatch the armed response vehicle if needed).
• All communication will be kept on the Control Room database for reference.
• Kindly note – This platform is only to be used for Security Concerns when necessary, not a lost dog for example.

Selborne Down, the oldest development in Oude Westhof, will soon have the youngest functioning Home Owners Association in the neighbourhood.

Mr Riaan Esterhuizen, convener of the fledgling Association, says all legalities were dealt with and a founding general meeting will soon be convened.  Trustees and a chairman will be appointed and the new constitution will  be ratified at this first meeting.

Riaan thanks fellow resident, Mr George van Zyl, who played a big role in initialising and driving the process to create the association.

Riaan says the new HOA will strive to assist in maintaining infrastructure and security and to achieve common goals for residents.  Belonging to the Selborne Down HOA will also bring a reduction of 50% in levies to Selborne Down home owners as a group scheme within the OWMHOA.

Final quotes have been requested for the installation of automatic floodlights on our back fence and work on the project is expected to start within weeks.

Mr. Morné Viljoen, our trustee in charge of security says that extensive research showed electrical powered lights at this stage to be far more cost effective when compared to solar power.  Quotes for the project closed in the first week of September.

The new lights will be connected to and triggered by our current electrical fence when movement is detected.  This will in turn alert our 24 hour monitoring team at Welgemoed Safe who will alert ADT if necessary.

Phase one of work on the new Majik Forest Mall has been completed and tenants such as the Oude Westhof Pharmacy have moved downstairs into their new premises. Work on the second phase of the project, which includes a parking garage, has started.

The Woolworths food shop will now be accommodated on the first level where the pharmacy used to be. It will open its doors in November says Kelley Bleksley, spokesperson  for the new owners, the  Noble Property Fund (Pty) Ltd in partnership with Dorpstraat Development Trust.

Other new tenants will include a fitness gym on the lower floor, a new restaurant next to the big staircase and Vida E coffee shop.  Kelly could not confirm rumours that a branch of the Kapstadt Brauhaus  will open in the centre.

There is currently a large part of the northern parking area now being closed off for the construction of the parking garage. When the available parking near the mall is fully occupied, customers  are  asked to be patient and to park in the parking area next to the Protea Valley Family church.

Kelly says progress is on schedule and all work should be finished by early 2022.

Bursting pipes and the current water supply problems in Oude Westhof are mostly caused by ageing pipes and connections between the main lines and houses in the area.

Mr. Ed van Albertyn from the city’s Water Department, explains that the approved pipes and connections that were used when developing the infrastructure  more than 20 years ago are ageing  and becoming brittle and prone to breaking.

Problems will increase and it might become necessary to upgrade the system in future. This can be a large and costly project.  Fortunately the city is responsible for the the infrastructure and maintenance and will have to carry the cost.

The fact that most of Oude Westhof ‘s water supply is dependant on only one main supply pipe further contributes to the problem. The result is that that most of the neighbourhood loses its water supply when a leak necessitates a shut-down.

The theory that leaks and breaking pipes are caused by fluctuations in our water pressure are not true says Mr Albertyn. Our water comes from three different reservoirs namely the Welgemoed Upper and Lower reservoirs as well as the Bellville reservoir on the hill above Majik Forest. These reservoirs are all located higher than our neighbourhood which means that water runs down at a constant pressure and does not have to be pumped upwards.

The quickest and best solution for a water problem is to report it immediately on the city’s C3 system. The more reports, the faster the problem will be attended to.  (See “How to report water leaks and other faults” in this edition.)

Linked to the frequent water leaks are the consequent damage of our road surfaces. The company responsible for these repairs had to be replaced causing a backlog in repair work. However a new company has been contracted and is catching up. The Roads Department will also assist in future to clear the backlog.

Please note that infrastructure and its maintenance and repair is the responsibility of the City of Cape Town municipality and not that of OWMHOA members.

Complaining has never been easier than with the City of Cape Town’s C3 Electronic Reporting System.

The systems ensure that your complaints and requests are recorded, tracked and reported.  From  potholes, water leaks, power outages, dead street lights, trees that need pruning etc. etc. , can be reported through the system. To log a request or complaint on the C3 Notification system you can do one of the following:

• Call 086 010 3089 – City’s Call Centre
• SMS 31373 (no more than 160 characters)
• Email: contactUS@capetown.gov.za
• Or log on directly to https://www.capetown.gov.za/en/ServiceRequests/Pages/default.aspx

You are then given a reference number, which allows you to follow up on the complaint. The notification will be closed as soon as the complaint has been dealt with. The system enables the City to measure how long it took to deal with complaints, as an indicator of service delivery success and improvement over time.

You can report a problem more than once and in fact the system escalates problems in relation to the number of fault reports received.

Some of you may have noticed the lack of rangers at the Majik Forest entry points.

This is due to the contract with the company providing the rangers coming to an end, and not been renewed timeously, resulting in the rangers been withdrawn.

The forest is now unprotected, and we therefore urge our members to please be extra vigilant when walking through the forest due to the lack of security.

We have been advised that the relevant parties are busy looking into this situation and hope to have the rangers re-deployed within the forest soon, but we are unable to provide a confirmed date at this stage.

If you plant or have trees or shrubs on the border of your property,  you should be aware that you (the owner)  must ensure that the border is not affected by these overhanging branches, fallen leaves or intruding roots.

If these  encroach on the land of a neighbour and cause a nuisance the neighbour may request the owner to remove the branches and if the owner fails to do so within a reasonable time after the demand,  the neighbour may remove the branches himself and claim the cost of removal from the landowner (Court case of Malherbe v Ceres Municipality (1951)) ; or he/she might even approach the court for an interdict compelling the owner to remove the branches.  This can if necessary be coupled with a prohibitory interdict forbidding similar encroachments in future.

As you can imagine this can easily become an expensive and unsavoury experience .  Some good advise might be  to keep on friendly terms with your neighbour  and  please watch (and trim)  your trees!

(From an article by Andre Calitz from Tomlinson Mnquni James Attorneys Cape Town as published in Law Talk)

Trustees for the Oude Westhof Master Homeowners Association were all re-elected at our General Annual Meeting in May .

A new trustee, Ms Robyn Viljoen, was co-opted to assist with the communications portfolio.

Trustees for 2021 now are:

Werner Greeff (Chairman and Legal)
Morne Viljoen (Security)
Ignatius Hagelund (Finances)
Stefan Pretorius (Environment)
Heinrich Priem (Environment)
Emile Terblanche (Communications)
Robyn Viljoen (Communications)

Remember to use our website (https://oudewesthof.co.za/) for the most current information regarding building regulations, security, regular rules and regulations of the Home Owners Association and the constitution. The website is linked to our Facebook page. Please also visit and like our Facebook page.