MID 2nd Quarter Newsletter

Dear MID Members,

This quarter has shown what a suburb can do when residents stop waiting and simply start. Three greening projects, at the Thesen bridge playpark, the Baker Street steps and the pavements outside 19 and 21 Royal Road, were funded from MID reserves but proposed, driven and in most cases physically planted by neighbours who gave up their weekends, while the restored corner at Palmer, Hansen and Holland was almost entirely a community effort. Royal Road holds real promise as a biodiversity corridor and a green lung for Muizenberg, and my hope is that these first beds become the seed of a Friends of Royal Road Gardens. In the same spirit, I am pleased to report that the Muizenberg Lakeside Residents Association has been revived.

The MID will be meeting with the MLRA shortly and we look forward to building a productive working relationship, as a strong and active residents association gives the community a voice on matters that fall well beyond the MID mandate. That momentum is matched by a strengthened board, with Joshua Chiagome joining us as Director of the Finance and Governance portfolio.

Joshua grew up in Muizenberg, attended primary school here and owns property in the Village, and he brings serious professional weight to the role as Senior Manager for Business Intelligence at Wesgro, with earlier years in provincial government and investment management and an MBA in Corporate Finance from the UCT Graduate School of Business. His appointment fills our final open seat and brings the board to full complement, exactly the footing we want as we approach the AGM in November.

Elsewhere in this issue you will find a candid explanation of what the MID can and cannot lawfully do on public safety, because clarity on that point serves us better than expectations we cannot meet, alongside news of our reworked memorandum of understanding with the U Turn Service Centre on Killarney Road, which we intend to turn into small, visible work teams doing tangible good in our streets. Balancing greening ambition against security, cleaning and social development remains our hardest budget conversation, and it is one I would like to have with you in person at our third quarterly meeting on Thursday 20 August at The Lookout.

2026 Dates to Diarise

MID Board Monthly Meeting Schedule

The next Muizenberg Improvement District (MID) Board Meeting will be held on Wednesday, 19 August 2026. The meeting begins at 17:00 , with the first 10 minutes dedicated to community participation. MID members, residents, and local business owners are welcome to raise matters they would like the Board to note or consider at the next board meeting held on 16 September 2026.

September 2026 | 21 October 2026 16

MID Quarterly Meeting

Our 3rd Quarterly Meeting will be held on Thursday, 20 August 2026 at The Lookout, 57 Promenade
Road next to the FynbosLIFE Nursery. This meeting will be held for our Resident Members.

URBAN MAINTENANCE AND CLEANING

The Environment and Greening Portfolio is proud to report back on three separate greening initiatives that have taken place in the MID area in recent months.

Thesen Bridge/Zandvlei playpark

This MID-funded project was managed and supported by Zandvlei Trust, with local residents providing input and additional labour. It saw the refurbishment of the playpark equipment in the area near the Thesen pedestrian bridge. And the planting of indigenous flora in beds near the pedestrian bridge. This forms part of a broader indigenous planting initiative in Zandvlei Park.

Royal Road, Baker Street steps

This MID-funded project was proposed and driven by local residents Serai Dowling & Dr Mellissa le Fevre, with Fynbos LIFE and Ingcungcu Sunbird Restoration providing oversight and assistance. It saw the clearing of an area adjacent to the Baker Street steps and the planting of indigenous flora.

Royal Road, Pavement garden 19 and 21 Royal Road

This MID-funded project is the most recent to date, and was driven and proposed by local resident Ruth Brain, with FynbosLIFE and BoSSIES providing oversight. It sees the clearance of a pavement green space and the planting of indigenous flora on the pavement area in front of 19 and 21 Royal Road.

Palmer Road Gardens

While MID had little involvement in this one, other than providing labour via Francisco, the MID gardener, it’s well worth a mention. Local residents have restored and improved a small green space at the intersection of Palmer, Hansen and Holland roads. Kudos to them for their effort and initiative.

FUNDING

All funding mentioned above has been drawn from MID reserves. MID would love to allocate more funds towards greening projects going forwards, drawing from operating expenditure, but this has to balanced against existing expenditure on items like security, cleaning, and social development. It’s worth noting that when greening projects are successful, this can often lead to outside funding streams becoming accessible, as has been witnessed in Muizenberg Park.

NOTES ON ROYAL ROAD

The green spaces along Royal Road have the potential to become an substantial biodiversity corridor in our suburb, providing residents with a beautiful green lung, and having the potential to become a tourist drawcard in its own right. Doing so will require substantial investments over a number of years. It is MID’s hope that local residents will unite to form a ‘Friends of Royal Road Gardens’ organisation that can drive this initiative to its fruition.

C’s logged for the period from 1 May 2026 to 31 July 2026

Public Safety | Creating Safe, Usable Urban Space

Public Safety Update – Muizenberg Improvement District

From time to time, members of the public request that the MID remove or “escort” individuals from the area where their behaviour is perceived to be intimidating, disruptive or unlawful. It is important to understand that neither the MID, its security personnel nor its contracted service providers have the legal authority to permanently remove or prohibit any person from accessing public spaces. Every person enjoys constitutional rights, including freedom of movement and equal protection under the law, and these rights
may only be limited through lawful legal processes.

Where an individual is causing a disturbance, committing a by-law infringement or engaging in criminal conduct, the MID will request the attendance of the appropriate authority, including City of Cape Town Law Enforcement or the South African Police Service (SAPS), depending on the circumstances.

Where it is safe, lawful and appropriate to do so, security personnel may encourage or escort an individual away from the immediate location of an incident. This is an operational de-escalation measure intended to restore order and reduce immediate risk to the public. It is, however, only a temporary intervention and does not prevent the individual from lawfully returning to the area.

The MID-funded City of Cape Town Law Enforcement officers are authorised to enforce applicable municipal by-laws, including the City of Cape Town Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances By-law. These by-laws regulate conduct in public spaces and enable officers to issue warnings, notices or fines for offences such as public nuisance, obstructing public places, unlawful consumption of alcohol, littering, unreasonable noise, unlawful trading and other prescribed municipal offences. Consistent enforcement encourages compliance, deters repeat offending and contributes to maintaining safe and orderly public spaces.

Where a person chooses not to pay an admission of guilt fine or disputes the allegation, the matter does not simply disappear. Depending on the applicable legal process, it may proceed through the courts, where a judicial officer will determine the outcome and impose any appropriate penalty. Repeated by-law contraventions may also demonstrate a pattern of non-compliance that can result in further enforcement action.

It is important to distinguish between municipal by-law enforcement and criminal prosecution. By-law enforcement addresses offences affecting the management and use of public spaces, while criminal offences such as assault, theft, robbery, intimidation, malicious damage to property and drug-related offences fall within the jurisdiction of SAPS. Where criminal conduct has occurred, victims and witnesses are encouraged to open a criminal case as soon as possible. A criminal investigation, supported by witness statements, CCTV footage and other evidence, provides the legal process through which offenders can be prosecuted and, where appropriate, subjected to bail conditions, court orders or other lawful sanctions.

The MID’s role is to observe, deter, report, coordinate responses, preserve evidence where appropriate and support authorised law enforcement agencies. The MID cannot replace the functions of SAPS or City Law Enforcement, nor can it lawfully deprive any person of their constitutional rights. Accordingly, the MID adopts a balanced approach to public safety. Escorting individuals from an immediate area may temporarily resolve a situation, municipal by-law enforcement provides an effective deterrent against unlawful behaviour, and criminal prosecution remains the most appropriate long-term solution where criminal offences have been committed. This approach ensures that public safety is enhanced while respecting the rule of law and the constitutional rights of all persons.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Building stronger pathways out of homelessness One of the most significant developments over the past month has been the reworking of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the MID and the U-Turn Service Centre on Killarney Road. This partnership reflects a shared commitment to creating practical pathways out of homelessness while improving the public spaces we all enjoy and all with the goal of helping people move towards sustainable employment, housing and recovery. If you would like to know more about the success of U-Turn Nationwide – please see this link to their 2025/2026 annual report. Stats such as:

81% of U-Turn graduates remain housed // 85% remain sober// 83% remain employed.

The challenge in Muizenberg is ensuring our local branch has the community support and resources needed to reach its full potential. As part of our new partnership, the MID and U-Turn are exploring ways to make community work programmes more visible and impactful. We are working towards smaller, supervised teams focused on clearly defined projects that residents can see and benefit from.

Projects currently being explored include:

• Targeted litter collection in identified problem areas
• Graffiti removal
• Gardening and landscape maintenance
• Skills development linked to future employment opportunities

Visible improvements to our shared spaces not only benefit the community – they also provide participants with purpose, routine, practical work experience and confidence.

Volunteers are needed

If you’ve ever wondered how you could make a meaningful contribution to Muizenberg, this is one of the simplest ways to become involved. Many programs rely on community members willing to share a few hours each week to assist with:

• cooking and shared meals
• sewing or knitting
• reading and writing groups
• gardening
• board games and social activities
• practical life skills
• mentoring
• faith-based support for those who choose to participate.

Winter Readiness

Although we hope severe weather won’t arrive, preparation remains essential. Should emergency shelter need to be activated, trained volunteers will be needed to assist with evening meals, activities and transport logistics. Training is provided beforehand, and just a few evenings of availability during severe weather makes an enormous difference. Let us know if you would like to undertake this training ahead of any heavy weather.

Mi Change: A better alternative to giving cash

One practical way every resident and business can help is by supporting the Mi-Change voucher program. Instead of giving cash directly, vouchers provide access to meals, clothing, showers and overnight shelter while encouraging individuals to engage with support services and recovery programs. U-Turn describes Mi-Change as “a compassionate alternative to cash” that supports dignity and long-term recovery.

If more businesses along the beachfront stocked Mi-Change vouchers, and more residents chose them instead of cash donations, it would significantly strengthen the program locally.

Unlocking community spaces

Another exciting area of work is our ongoing conversations with the Civic Centre to better understand how public facilities might be made more accessible for community initiatives. We believe public spaces should support public good wherever possible.

Please reach out to socialdevelopment@mid.org.za with ideas you may have for the civic centre.