The Resilience Group, established in 2023, had a busy 2024. Here is the 3rd instalment of reportbacks by groups managed by members of the KRRA executive, this time by Emily Hurley.
With the devastation caused by the terrifying fires in Los Angeles lately, fuelled by their version of the southeaster, the Santa Ana, the role of the Resilience Group becomes acutely more poignant for the Deep South.
The group’s key initiative in 2024 was to form the Kommetjie Disaster Risk Management (Kom-DRM) Coalition, collaborating with the City of Cape Town, Komwatch, NSRI, Soetwater Campsite, Wildman Wildlife Management, Ocean View Civic Association, and other stakeholders.
The Coalition’s goals are:
To reduce the likelihood of disasters through proactive risk reduction measures.
To minimize disaster impacts by developing a local Emergency Management Plan.
Two workshops were held in 2024: an initial risk assessment workshop and a follow-up workshop in Decem ber to begin drafting the Emergency Management Plan. Both workshops were facilitated by the City of Cape Town’s Disaster Risk Management team.
The Resilience Group also organized and participated in several community events, including:
Book Talk and Signing: Kommetjie resident Adam Welz discussed his book, The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown. This event raised R2,500 for fynbos conservation in Kommetjie.
Fire Talk: Dr. Guy Preston, former DFFE director, shared insights on managing wildfire risks.
Far South Futures Event: Dr. Andrea Marais-Potgieter from the University of Witwatersrand led discussions on envisioning a sustainable future for the Far South.
At the Far South Futures event, the group proposed launching a monthly Green Drinks event for environmentalists to connect, share ideas, and inspire one another. The first event is planned for early 2025.
For more information, contact Resilience Group coordinator Emily Hurley at emilyLhenehan@gmail.com.
If you would like to assist in these and the many other projects undertaken by the KRRA volunteers, please consider a monthly or one-off EFT payment at details below, or via Snapscan here
Include your name and the code for the volunteer KRRA work you wish to support from here
General 1, Parks and Open Spaces 2, Alien clearing 3, Beach Cleanup 4, Waterways Maintenance 5, Indigenous Planting 6, Walkways Maintenance 7, Traffic & Roads 8, Social Fabric 9, Development & Infrastructure 10, Media & Communications 11, Local Enterprise 12, Resilience 13
KRRA
Standard BankFish Hoek (036009)
Account number 374221065
Why?
The KRRA has existed for eight decades and is run by volunteers who work on issues from spatial planning, road safety, social fabric, resilience (disaster mitigation), and environmental integrity such as alien clearing, indigenous planting, beach cleanups, and the restoration of our rivers and wetlands. We get walkways fixed and look at better access. We monitor building and development, and put together alerts and updates via newsletter and social media. We deal with issues that benefit you.We would ask for some reciprocation financially (as well as ideas or volunteers) to enable the above work, which sometimes includes serious issues with legal fees attached. If every Kommetjie household donated just R50 a month (less than R2 per day), the KRRA would have a healthy enough budget to tackle almost anything thrown our way.
Contact Patrick Dowling on 084 966-1249 for additional information.
We follow legal procedure with monthly agendas and an AGM where a treasurer’s report is presented and we report back to the community.
We encourage Kom residents to attend the next AGM. You will be notified via email, social media and a banner as you enter Kom.
Be the difference.
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