Dear Property Owners and Interested Parties

Welcome to the July 2026 edition of the Lower Gardens CID newsletter!

As this is our very first newsletter of the new financial year, we have updated how we report our monthly numbers to give you better clarity on our community's performance. In this and future editions, you will notice that metrics from the previous financial year have been aggregated into monthly averages. By comparing July’s operational data directly against last year's monthly averages, you can easily track our ongoing performance, spot emerging trends, and see where our focus is making a tangible difference across safety, cleaning, and social interventions.

Message from the Chairman: 1 Year of the Lower Gardens CID

As the first year of our community approved business plan has passed, I would like to take this opportunity to extend a huge thank you to all stakeholders who have contributed to our year one implementation.

A special mention must go to our professional suppliers, Byers Security for Public Safety, Essential for Cleaning and Maintenance, and Streetscapes for Social Services. We have made strong progress in materially reducing crime, cleaning up the streets, parks, and reducing rough sleeping and vagrancy. This has laid a strong foundation to allow us to plan on fully implementing proposed services agreed within our 5 year business plan, within this upcoming 2026 - 27 financial year.

The important focus items for the next 12 months will be the establishment of the Tuin Plein precinct as the CID office, community garden and children’s play park, and the finalisation of phase 2 and 3 of our CCTV and control room roll out. We also hope to finalise detailed upgrade plans with community input relating to Maynard and Jutland Parks. Once these items are fully implemented, you can expect the CID to begin focusing on the top 20% which will include exciting initiatives like our business forum, community events and street projects.

Most importantly I would like to thank my fellow board members, our CID members, property owners, together with their residential and business tenants for your continued input and engagement.

To help make Lower Gardens the best inner suburb in South Africa, we would like to request less than 4 hours a year from each of you, please join the LGCID Connect WhatsApp community, attend the annual AGM (in November), read the monthly newsletter and hold us accountable by reporting all public space concerns to our Control Room.

Yours Sincerely

Ryan Paterson

Important Notices from the Lower Gardens CID

2026 Lower Gardens CID Annual Survey

We strongly encourage all stakeholders to take a few minutes to participate in our 2026 Annual Survey.  Your feedback and insights are essential in helping us track our progress, measure performance, and identify key areas of focus for the upcoming year to keep improving our neighborhood.

General Incidents Update

We recorded a total of 6 incidents in July:

• 2 Accidents
• 2 By-Law Management Incidents
• 2 Pro-Active Actions

Our teams remain active on the ground to keep our community safe and running smoothly.

Public safety attending to a motor vehicle accident along Roeland Street nearest corner Upper Canterbury. 

City of Cape Town Update

Service Delivery

During July, a total of 47 C3 requests were logged for municipal maintenance and service issues. Thanks to ongoing follow-ups, 17 requests have been fully resolved so far. A special thank you goes out to the City for their prompt assistance with urgent matters this month particularly in repairing water leaks caused by stolen water meters. Their quick response helped prevent significant water waste in our neighborhood.

Water reinstatement repaired along Wandel Street nearest corner Vrede Street.

A defect in the pavement along Wandel Street nearest corner Vrede Street repaired by Roads and Infrastructure team.

A defect in the pavement along Tuin Plein nearest corner Vrede Street repaired by Roads and Infrastructure Management team.

You can contact us on WhatsApp  to report any service delivery issues you see in the Lower Gardens CID. This is the most effective way in assisting us address outstanding service delivery concerns in the neighbourhood.

Law Enforcement

Our dedicated law enforcement officer prioritised high-visibility policing throughout July. Because of this increased presence on the streets, overall fine categories dropped compared to last month:

• Section 56 Notices: 149 issued (down from 200)
• Section 341 Notices: 310 issued (down from 390)

 
Public Safety Update

The public safety team worked hard to manage loitering and prevent crime before it happened in the month of July. The number of reported public space interventions dropped from 547 to 486, showing that consistent presence is helping keep public spaces orderly.

Public safety team confiscating a trolley along Buitenkant Street nearest corner Roodehek Street.

Further to the decrease in interventions needed, stop and search operations Increased from 6 to 11, reflecting proactive efforts when team members spotted suspicious individuals entering the CID. 

Thanks to these proactive public safety efforts, we are happy to share that we had only one criminal incident this month, which led to a successful arrest carried out by our team in collaboration with SAPS. We encourage all stakeholders to keep reporting incidents and providing us with case numbers. Having case numbers directly assists our teams and SAPS in identifying, tracking, and apprehending suspects. 

Notable Incidents

Housebreaking

A housebreaking incident occurred at the corner of McKenzie and Wembley Streets, Gardens. Following the receipt and review of CCTV footage provided by the complainant, the two male suspects were positively identified. Acting on the instructions of the SAPS investigating officer, the two suspects were located, apprehended, and handed over to SAPS.

Cleaning & Maintenance Update

General cleaning operations continued as normal throughout July to keep our streets presentable. The number of waste bags collected for the month was at 1,158 bags collected (down from 1,198 in June).

Stormwater drains cleared and cleaned sits at 33 drains cleaned (down from 39 in June).

Help us stay ahead of the weather and please report any blocked drains via our WhatsApp channel. Our team will intervene where possible and ensure any issues requiring City suction equipment are logged promptly.

Social Services Update 

A big thank you goes to our Social Services team for facilitating and running our very first Nelson Mandela Day Drive in collaboration with The Hope Exchange! Through this initiative, we were able to hand over men's pre-loved clothing and toiletries to the organisation. Thank you to all stakeholders who participated and donated.                                                                                                                        We encourage everyone to keep donating gently used clothes if you have them. Clothing donations assist our Social Services team immensely when helping individuals who are ready to make a positive life change and move off the streets.

Social Services team attending the Nelson Mandela event at the Hope Exchange.

 

Work readiness participants collected 151 bags of waste in July, an increase from 117 bags in June. Incremental progress in their personal journeys is ongoing with scope of their daily activities set to increase further as their programme goes on.

Continuous outreach work is ongoing by our peer support team. The team conducted 42 individual follow-up sessions in July (compared to 47 in June). These sessions are crucial for checking on participants' progress, assisting with ID documentation, and keeping them on track toward long-term stability. The team also successfully facilitated 2 referrals to local Safe Spaces this month (matching June's total). These placements provide a secure bed, warm meals, and structured social support, giving candidates the stability they need to take their next big steps forward. 

Parks Recreation Update

General operations continued in our parks over the course of July.  A total of 83 bags of waste and garden refuse were collected in July with 27 bags in Maynard Park and 56 bags in Jutland Park.

We are pleased to share that the City completed the first phase of repairs at Tuin Plein Children's Park. The fences have been freshly repainted, and garden edging has been installed. The last phase of the repairs includes the complete re-surfacing of the park and leveling open area between the parking lot and childrens play park which will become the new community garden.

City of Cape Town working on Tuin Plein park preparing garden beds and installing new fences.

City of Cape Town contractors removing tar in preparation for a new surfacing for the childrens play area in Tuin Plein.

Announcements

Lower Gardens CID AGM: 17 November 2026

Please mark your calendars for our upcoming AGM on 17 November 2026. The venue and time will be confirmed closer to the date. We strongly encourage all property owners to formally apply for CID membership so you can vote on important decisions at the meeting. To ensure that the Lower Gardens City Improvement District (LGCID) remains representative of our community’s interests, we encourage all eligible property owners to formally register as members. Being a registered member allows you to:

• Vote on the Budget: Influence how your contributions are allocated across urban management, security, and social services.
• Approve the Implementation Plan: Have a say in the strategic projects scheduled for the upcoming year.
• Elect Board Members: Vote for the directors who oversee the CID’s operations and governance.

Membership is divided into two distinct categories based on the nature of the property ownership:

1. Private Membership (Natural Person)

This category is for individual property owners. Registering as a Private Member ensures that you are kept informed of CID developments and provides a platform to contribute to the safety and maintenance of the neighborhood.

• Application Link: Private Membership Form

2. Juristic Membership (Companies, Trusts, or Bodies Corporate)

This category is for properties owned by legal entities, such as companies, close corporations, trusts, or body corporates. A designated representative must be appointed to act on behalf of the entity.

• Application Link: Juristic Membership Form

While all property owners contribute to the CID, only registered members are eligible to vote on critical matters at the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Formal membership is the primary mechanism through which you can exercise your right to shape the future of the Lower Gardens community. We urge all owners to complete the relevant registration form to ensure their voice is heard at the next AGM.

Please note that voting for or against the establishment of the CID during public participation does not automatically make you a registered member. Registration ensures your voice counts at the AGM!

 Sub-Council 16 Notices

As part of our commitment to keeping the community informed, we would like to highlight several matters currently before Subcouncil 16 that require public awareness or formal comment. Public participation is a vital tool for ensuring that the development of the Gardens and Lower Gardens area aligns with the needs of its residents and businesses. They can be found on the following links:

• Liquor Licence Application: Foodstop Express.
• Public Notification Of The 2026/27 Service Delivery and Budget.

Interactive Lower Gardens CID Dashboard

We continue to provide full transparency through our interactive dashboard, tracking all incidents and logs recorded by the CID since our inception. This platform remains central to how we analyse trends and share key insights that directly inform our daily operations. Used as our primary tool for weekly incident reporting, our ongoing goal is to keep you well-informed with real-time updates on our neighborhood's safety and maintenance. Monitor our updates in real-time:

• https://stats.lowergardenscid.co.za/

Your Eyes, Our Impact: See it, Share it

As we work to establish Lower Gardens as the best inner-city suburb in South Africa, we want to ensure our efforts are measured by clear data, not just opinion. The performance of the board, our operations team, and all our suppliers will be judged on concrete evidence of continued improvement across the precinct.

To make this possible, we need your active participation. Your feedback and reporting are vital. We ask that you report all incidents, report all crimes with SAPS and provide case numbers, log all service delivery requests, and provide constant feedback on the success of our operations. You can do this by calling our LGCID control room, which is operated 24/7, on 087 330 2177. Alternatively, you can contact us via our website at LGCID reporting.

We are happy to share that you use Whatsapp to report incidents via our LGCID Connect channel. This is our primary communication channel for staying updated on community matters and logging incidents directly to our control room. Please take note that should you WhatsApp call the Control Room, it will be declined and you will receive a call from our Control Room on 087 330 2177

Contact Us
For general inquiries, suggestions, or to report an issue, please contact us at:

Email: cidmanager@lowergardenscid.co.za
Office Phone: 087 330 2177
Website: www.lowergardenscid.co.za
Physical Address: Lower Gardens City Improvement, Gardens, Cape Town, Western Cape, 8001, South Africa 

Lower Gardens City Improvement District