Nearby residents have accused Tiger’s Milk of ignoring by-laws around noise levels. Image: Pixabay
Tiger’s Milk in hot water again, this time for being ‘too loud’
Residents from an upmarket estate in Gauteng are at their wits’ end over a nearby Tiger’s Milk restaurant for being ‘too loud’.
Nearby residents have accused Tiger’s Milk of ignoring by-laws around noise levels. Image: Pixabay
The tranquillity of a once-peaceful neighbourhood in Kempton Park is gone. This is according to some residents at Glen Eagle Estate, who are crying foul over noise levels coming from a nearby Tiger’s Milk restaurant and bar.
The fed-up residents told the Kempton Express Thembisan that they had reported the situation to the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) and the Tiger’s Milk establishment several times.
Noise exceeds legal decibel levels
Since the local Tiger’s Milk opened in October 2022, the residents say the restaurant has been consistently playing music that exceeds the “legal decibel level”.
The residents have lamented a stalemate with the Tiger’s Milk manager, Bryan Jeftha – accusing him of arrogance and not taking their complaints seriously.
Patrons ‘scream’ into the early hours
One concerned Glen Eagle Estate resident, Suretha Esterhuysen, says the noise disturbances sometimes continue until 02:00.
“All we, as residents, ask for is that the restaurant adhere to the residential by-laws for noise levels,” she said.
Along with the excessive noise, Esterhysen says that residents also have to deal with “the screaming of patrons”.
Residents say they want Tiger’s Milk to thrive as a business, but that it should not be at the expense of their peace, or a potential devaluation of their properties.
“At times, the noise levels are so loud that we cannot have conversations in our homes,” said another irked resident, Justine Jordaan.
Local ward councillor Jaco Terblanche, though not representing the area where Tiger’s Milk is located, has taken up the residents’ fight since November 2022.
Spinning cars
Other Glen Eagle Estate residents claim that patrons spin their cars after leaving the establishment, and feel it is only a matter of time before one of them crashes into the Estate wall.
Meanwhile, resident Nonkululeko Khoza says she tried to reason with the manager when her daughter was studying for matric exams last year.
“Since Tiger’s Milk opened, we have not had one peaceful night’s sleep in our homes,” she said, adding that noise levels worsened by the week.
Tiger’s Milk pushes back
In response, Tiger’s Milk manager Bryan Jeftha accused the Glen Eagle Estate residents of ambushing him.
“They screamed at me as if I was a child instead of sitting down and reasoning with me,” he said.
“I acknowledged that we played loud music but then, told the residents we would make some changes, which we did.”
Jeftha said that the outside area was enclosed, which had helped reduce the noise.
He went on to say that he tested noise levels with his own decibel reader. He observed that the ambient sounds around the area would normally read anywhere between 55 and 65 decibels.
“We have an airport nearby, so the ambient sound will go up and down when planes fly over,” added Jeftha.
“It would seem like we are over the legal decibel number, but that is not the case. As an establishment, we try our best not to exceed 55 decibels.”
Jeftha was also assured by a head of department from Town Planning in the CoE that Tiger’s Milk was not breaking any laws.
“We have the correct licenses to operate and are well within the confines of what is legal.”
Another wrap on the knuckles
Earlier this month, the South African Music Performance Rights Association filed criminal charges against the owners of La Parada and Tiger’s Milk restaurants over alleged unpaid royalties. Read more on that story here.
