Holding the Line Through a Demanding Year
Dear Residents,
As 2025 has drawn to a close, we would like to reflect on a year that required persistence, professionalism, and sustained collaboration to protect the character, safety, and liveability of our suburb.
This has not been a year defined by a single crisis, but by the cumulative pressure of infrastructure failures, environmental strain, intensifying development activity, and growing demands on public space.
What has carried CraigPark through this has been an organised, engaged community and a Committee made up of dedicated volunteers who give up evenings, weekends, and personal time to ensure that our suburb continues to function as it should.
Our Green Spaces: Care, Not Coincidence
Delta Park, the Spruit system, and Hugh Wyndham Park remain at the heart of our suburb, and their condition today is no accident.
Without sustained community support and the active work of the CRA and its partners, these spaces would very likely have deteriorated significantly. Anyone familiar with the current condition of some unmanaged public parks elsewhere in the city will understand how quickly green spaces decline when regular maintenance, oversight, and intervention fall away.
Through consistent, on-the-ground work alongside our partners: most notably Bubele Africa, as well as The Woods, Delta Central, and Jozi Trails, the CRA has ensured that Delta Park, Hugh Wyndham Park, and the Spruit corridor remain clean, safe, and welcoming for residents.
Supporting Skills, Jobs, and Environmental Stewardship
Bubele Africa plays a central role in this work. Over the past year, the CRA has actively supported and helped upskill the Bubele team, enabling them to operate more effectively and safely. The team has grown from six to ten people and has been equipped with uniforms, PPE, and improved tools, including a brush cutter.
It is important to be clear that brush cutting, weed-island management, river-edge maintenance, and detailed ecological work are not undertaken by the City. Municipal intervention generally extends only to major grass cutting. The more intensive and environmentally sensitive work required along the Spruit is carried by the CRA and its partners. This includes clearing stormwater drains to reduce flood risk, managing invasive vegetation, removing litter from the river itself, maintaining Hugh Wyndham Park, and keeping areas around mini-substations clear and safe.
During 2025, the CRA and its partners have successfully stopped the proliferation of informal maize cultivation along sections of the Spruit. This practice is illegal, environmentally destructive, and unsafe, contributing to erosion, water contamination, and riverbank instability. As a result, natural grass cover has returned, stabilising embankments and reducing erosion risk.
The following images show aerial shots of where the maize cultivation was before it was cleared:
The CRA has also repaired fencing at the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary and has begun refreshing and standardising compliance and park signage throughout Delta Park and along the Spruit; an often overlooked but critical part of protecting public spaces.
Infrastructure, Safety, and Everyday Interventions
On infrastructure and safety, the CRA acted where immediate intervention was required. Missing stop signs were replaced, potholes and curbs addressed, and mini-substations were cleared and secured, resulting in a meaningful reduction in vandalism, theft, and prolonged outages. Recreational infrastructure at Delta was also improved.
Mini substations before:
Mini substations after:
Following severe storm damage to the Blue Bridge in March 2025, the CRA has remained actively involved in ensuring accountability. Engineering input was facilitated, escalation coordinated, and interim solutions supported, including a temporary pedestrian bridge erected in collaboration with Delta Café. Repairs to the Blue Bridge have recently commenced and the CRA remains engaged with the City around the long-term repair, which is currently estimated at approximately R6 million.
Planning, Policy, and Protecting Neighbourhood Character
Town planning has been one of the CRA’s most demanding areas of work this year.
Our guiding principle is clear: to retain the established residential character of Craighall Park. Where development is appropriate, it must be contextual, compliant, and supported by infrastructure. Where it is not, overreach leads to congestion, loss of tree cover, infrastructure strain, and high-density outcomes that permanently erode neighbourhood liveability.
During the year, the CRA facilitated objections to multiple rezoning and consent-use applications, including a comprehensive objection exceeding 30 pages in response to a particularly overreaching proposal. We have deliberately front-run planning engagement through clear objection guidelines, dedicated resident working groups, and accessible online resources for each application.
Beyond individual applications, the CRA has actively participated in broader policy and public-participation processes, including submissions on SPLUMA, the City’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP), and other frameworks that shape how Johannesburg grows.
Policy Engagement and Civil Society Leadership
In addition to planning matters, the CRA has made formal submissions and participated in public engagement on a range of city-wide policy initiatives. These include Working for an Alcohol-Safer South Africa (WASSA), with engagement with the Gauteng Liquor Board; the now-withdrawn CCTV By-Law; Public Spaces By-Laws; and objections to sweeping and controversial road-name changes.
The CRA is a founding Residents’ Association member of JoburgCAN, working alongside civil-society partners to strengthen accountability and governance across Johannesburg. We also collaborate closely with neighbouring Residents’ Associations in Greenside, Parkview, Parkhurst, Parktown West, and Melville to build alignment, share expertise, and increase collective leverage.
Working With the City Where It Matters
Engagement with the City has deepened this year. The CRA has met with the new Chiefs of Police and JMPD, engaged senior management at Johannesburg Water and the Johannesburg Roads Agency, and continued to leverage these relationships to resolve issues more effectively.
We have also worked closely with CRUM to address homelessness and vagrancy in a structured and humane way. Members of the CRA committee have engaged directly with the Mayoral Office’s high-impact service delivery task team to address priority issues requiring urgent intervention.
We welcome Renate van Onselen as the new Ward 90 Councillor and look forward to constructive collaboration. We are also encouraged by the reappointment of Dr Floyd Brink as City Manager and the responsiveness shown by his office.
We pause to acknowledge our late councillor, Martin Williams, whose commitment to CraigPark was exceptional and whose untimely passing this year is deeply felt.
Safety Through Partnership
Safety in CraigPark is the result of cooperation, not isolation.
We extend sincere thanks to our security partner CAP, with whom we work very closely. Through coordinated engagement and shared intelligence, CAP has contributed directly to a significant reduction in crime. Their Public Space Protector membership has been pivotal in addressing public-space challenges that the City has struggled to manage adequately.
We also acknowledge the important contributions of Beagle Watch and Fidelity ADT, whose presence and cooperation form part of the broader security ecosystem that keeps CraigPark safer.
Community, Belonging, and Shared Moments
Not all of the CRA’s work is about infrastructure or policy. Some of the most meaningful impact happens quietly, around a table, or joyfully, in the street.
The Tea & Talk gatherings were created to address loneliness in the community, particularly among older residents. These are held monthly at the Wesleyan Church and speakers on a wide variety of topics are invited to speak to the community. These events have become relaxed, welcoming spaces where people form friendships, and experience a genuine sense of belonging.
Weekly Time Trial runs have been held every Wednesday morning at 6am from Vice Coffee. The runs attract speedy runners, people just starting out on their fitness journey and everything inbetween. There are 5km and 8km route options which have been marked out on the streets.
Alongside these regular activities, our Easter Egg Hunt, Halloween celebrations, and Christmas events were all hugely successful. They brought families together, filled the suburb with laughter and colour, and reminded us how special CraigPark is when neighbours connect.
People Power: Committee, Volunteers, and Business Members
The CRA itself experienced change this year. We said goodbye to several committee members and thank them sincerely for their service. We also welcomed new members who have stepped forward to continue the work.
A special acknowledgement is due to our former Chair, Markus Borner, whose leadership laid the foundation for much of what the CRA is today.
We also thank our CRA business members, whose contributions help sustain initiatives and uplift the community.
Sustainability, Membership, and the Year Ahead
As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with optimism, but also realism.
Out of approximately 3,000 households, only around 25% currently support the CRA through membership. While our financial position is stable, it is not sustainable for a minority of residents to carry the civic burden for the majority.
The CRA relies on legal advice, town-planning expertise, and policy specialists to engage professionally and effectively. A part of membership fees goes towards this spend. Our goal is to continue professionalising the CRA so that it increasingly operates like a well-run organisation, using collective leverage to ensure the City fulfils its responsibilities.
Our vision is to reach 80% or more paid-up membership by 2027/2028. With that level of support, the CRA could employ a full-time resource dedicated to City engagement, materially improving outcomes and reducing volunteer burnout.
Residents are encouraged to get involved or contribute R100 per month – the price of a cappuccino and a croissant. It is a small contribution with an outsized impact. If you are not yet a contributing member, or if your membership has expired, please visit www.cra.org.za and click on “Become a Member”.
In Closing
Thank you to every resident, volunteer, donor, business, and partner who contributed this year. The record shows a community that chose engagement over disengagement and substance over noise.
The challenges facing Johannesburg remain real; but so does the power of an organised community determined to protect its future.
Yours sincerely,
CraigPark Residents’ Association Committee