Drive down Innes Road towards the sea. Turn left into Venice Road. Drive up Venice. The Morningside Sports Club is right, on the corner of Farrell and Venice. There is an entrance on the corner and one further up the road opposite the park.
Directions to Morningside Sports Club
News24.com
Cops to target shebeens – Cele
2010/11/18 06:53:13 PM
Cape Town – The police are going to be “merciless” on illegal shebeens, General Bheki Cele said on Thursday.
“One thing that we are looking at that we believe generates crime are shebeens,” he told reporters in Cape Town following a meeting with senior Western Cape police.
“We are going to be merciless to those people that run these places illegally.”
He said police were concerned at illegal shebeens, and those that were legal “but not sticking to legalities”.
For example, the law said no patrons should be under 18, but in some shebeens that were supposed to be legal one found 14, 15 or 16-year-olds.
This would be a national crackdown, not just in the Western Cape, he said. Cele said police had agreed to take extra care over the Christmas period to ensure all South Africans and visitors were safe and felt safe.
The police reports are that Florida Road has improved in the last year because their complaint logs are fewer. All photographic and email evidence is to the contrary. Complaints from the public are that calls to the SAPS station remain unanswered. Calls to Metro are answered but there are complaints. I suspect that many have simply given up or moved out of the area after years of frustration.
On a personal note, I have heard the following comments passed in the last two days which have concerned me regarding Florida Road, “You lost the FTV fight, they opened last night”, “Everybody thinks you are trying to shut down Florida Road”, “There have always been nightclubs on Florida Road”.
I have no fight with any establishments, as long as, they obey the law, respect the rights of their neighbours, are accountable to the public according to their business license, liquor license and town planning special consents to operate in a residential area, as well as, any other legal processes for operating a business in this country. All these licenses are issued in accordance to certain practices that are there to protect the rights of the innocent for good reason. Nightclubs are prohibited on Florida Road. A nightclub liquor license allows an establishment to serve alcohol until 4.00am. Residents have rights and I am deeply concerned when people question why I chose to protect them, particularly those who do not live in the area and are not subjected to the constant problems we experience.
The streets of Florida Road are littered with broken beer bottles, faeces and condoms. This has become the norm. We simply step over them.
The pavements are jammed with tables. We simply walk in the streets and enjoy the vibe.
The pavements are jammed with cars. We simply hoot until we can enter our properties or pull extremely carefully into the road at all hours to avoid accidents.
The revellers brawl and party until 6.00am (sometimes 8.00am). Residents simply sleep with earplugs, turn up their TVs, clean their own verges, rent out their properties or move out of the area.
The street traders trade openly in restaurants and on the streets. Visitors excitedly purchase their wares and try to avoid them when they race down the streets.
Drugs are offered to school going children. Children giggle and mothers simply shrug their shoulders in alarm and despair.
The influx of people is huge. Criminals of all descriptions go undetected. Litterers, loiterers, bag snatches, drug dealers, some bylaw offenders, some criminal offenders.
It all seems so petty, we have become so immune. We just accept it. Ask youself why? Ask youself why we have crime in this country? The answer is so simple. We don’t even see it. We don’t even know what it is. We don’t even know what it feels like to respect our own rights or to assert what is rightfully ours – a safe and clean neighbourhood. We have Metro police stationed in the area and we have our streets cleaned – both initiatives started this year – yet the situation is worse! Why?
South Africans live with a very high crime rate. There is a direct link between drugs and alcohol consumption and crime.
Living with crime has become the norm. Corruption, fraud, stealing, lying, poor corporate governance are simply seen as normal business practice. As long as, we all continue to accept this standard of operation we will see no reduction in crime. Criminals come in all disguises, shapes and sizes, they are not ‘the poor’ as we are led to believe.
It is time to ask yourself, what can you do better to be safe in this country? Who can you challenge to pick up their litter, move their vehicle, stop their noise, not drink and drive, not allow their children to drink under-age, not support illegal trade, to trade responsibly. Paying bribes of any kind is simply wrong. Report the perpetrators and misdemeanors. Do the right thing and we will see change in this country.
You’ve heard it a million times: Be the change you want to see in the world.
What to do? Call 10111 for Emergencies. Call Metro on 031-361 0000 for bylaw issues, get a reference number and email the cpf on info@bereacpf.co.za. Educate all children on the effects of drug and alcohol abuse. Be good role models.
The article also discusses similar inconsiderate behaviour and noise complaints to those experienced on Florida Road highlighting the importance of co-existence and management.
When: Tuesday 23 November 2010
Where: Morningside Sports Club. Click here for directions.
Time: 5.30pm-6.30pm
Agenda:
Florida Road Law Enforcement
The Berea Community Policing Forum (CPF) would once again like to applaud the City for their continued attempts at enforcing the law on Florida Road.
In response to The Mercury 18 Nov 2010 Page 4 article: Fashionably Late, FTV Café Hits Florida Road – The opening of FTV Café was neither ‘thwarted’, nor ‘foiled’ by the City, but was rather an attempt by yet another business on Florida Road to operate without first obtaining all permissions from the City as required by law.
The CPF understands that FTV has now met the NHBR regulations yet we are waiting to hear the outcome regarding their acoustics and sound proofing. A major concern is the influx of 400 guests into the area given Florida Road’s limited parking and constant congestion problems. We are eager to see how they choose to co-exist in harmony with their residential neighbours.
The stakeholders of Florida Road welcome any establishment who respect the rights of all in the area, particularly the rights to peace and quiet, access to properties and cleanliness as required by the law. There are established restaurants that uphold and promote the good name of Florida Road. Many other establishments obtain restaurant consent to trade; trade unsuccessfully; convert to cocktail bars and nightclubs in an attempt to boost their dwindling profits. Nightclubs are prohibited from operating in the area. The City is currently instituting High Court applications against certain establishments for operating illegally.
Every stakeholder of Florida Road (and surrounds) knows that something has gone horribly wrong with the road. It is zoned for general residential use yet the huge influx of patrons, nightclubs, street brawls, car bars, drug deals, illegal pavement trading, incessant noise into the morning, beer bottles and broken glass, litter, congestion, illegal parking, and fouling of the pavements, and non-stop partying continue throughout the week despite the work of two permanent night-shift Metro personnel in a vehicle patrolling the area.
The City currently has a tender out asking for independent service providers to come up with solutions for Florida Road and other parts of the city, as well as, a task team that regularly enforces compliance. We applaud the City’s recognition of the need to find solutions to co-existence for those stakeholders who wish to operate within the confines of the law, with long term sustainability for all in mind.
The CPF is intolerant of those who selfishly trade outside the law pleading ignorance; the needs of some of their ‘special’ patrons and show a lack of accountability and responsibility to the neighbourhood. Particularly in our current South African climate, the presence of consistent enforcement to ensure compliance, impacts trade of all businesses – good and bad – which the CPF believes is grossly unfair.
Florida Road remains Durban’s most culturally diverse and convenient entertainment area. We call on all stakeholders and members of the public to act responsibly to ensure the future of a sustainable area.
All Florida Road stakeholders who wish to have a meaningful say in what is planned for the road’s future are welcome to attend a meeting called by the CPF on Tuesday the 23rd November at Morningside Sports Club, top of Venice Road.
Below is an image of 9th Avenue before the opening of FTV on Florida Road. FTV has 400 invited guests to the opening on 18 Nov 2010. Where will they park and how will Florida Road cope with the influx?
Below is a small collection of pictures taken in Florida Road showing illegal activity including bottles on pavements after all night parties, drinking in public, vehicles parked on pavements day and night, advertisers using venues for product launches and events continue until the morning with bottles littering the pavements, filth, littering, pavement trading blocking the sidewalk, taxis waiting for patrons, fouling of the pavement, no drugs signs erected by desperate residents, car bars, drunken driving accidents, drugs stashed in gardens by car guards, supported illegal street traders, illegal dumping of rubbish etc.
Sector 1: Thursday 25th November, venue TBC
Sector 2: Thu 2 Dec 2010, TBC
Sector 3: TBC
Sector 4: Wed 24 Nov 2010, Clarence Road Primary, 5.30pm-6.30pm
Sector 5: Tue 23 Nov 2010, Morningside Bowling Club, 5.30pm-6.30pm
| Emergency SAPS | 10111 |
| Berea SAPS | 031-277 1066 031-201 7327 |
| Metro Police | 031-361 0000 |
| Medical Emergency Netcare 911 ER 24 | 082 911 084 124 |
| Public Ambulance | 10177 |
| Municipal | 080 331 011 sizakala@durban.gov.za |
| Electricity | 080 1313 111 |
| Engineering Services | 080 1313 013 |
Website sponsored by:
