City Parks and Zoo encourages community support to help with park’s upkeep
"We all need to take responsibility for the parks and open spaces near where we live. As a City entity, we can't do this on our own, as we cannot be here 24/7."
After President Cyril Ramaphosa declared all parks and spaces open to the public in changes to lockdown regulations on 12 July, the emphasis has been put in ensuring that these open spaces are clean and safe for all to use.Joburg City Parks and Zoo’s Region B manager Rose Abdullah visited Fontainebleau Park on 22 July with the MMC for Community Development Margaret Arnolds to assess the situation after numerous residents complained about the state of the park.
“In this area, we need the support of businesses and the community to band together to take back our public open spaces,” said Abdullah.
“We all need to take responsibility for the parks and open spaces near where we live. As a City entity, we can’t do this on our own, as we cannot be here 24/7.”
She added that with the current Covid-19 situation, City Parks and Zoo was low on human resources and this has impacted severely on turnaround times.
“The crisis has hit us hard, but we still endeavour to perform weekly clean-ups such as this one in our various parks around the city. I encourage residents, businesses and community policing forums to band together in their community to help with the regular cleaning of their local parks and increase the presence of private security.”
She said any suspected illegal activity, littering, the making of fires or the building of structures on park property should be reported to the City.”You cannot simply report just anyone you see walking in the park, there has to be just cause. For instance, if the person has been there for hours or days on end, or if a vehicle has been parked in the park for hours, or if a group of people are drinking in the park.”
Abdullah concluded that all bylaw infringements could be reported on the Metro police’s dedicated hotline 011 375 5918.
