Sandton’s Truffles On The Park takes on City Parks

Sandton’s favourite bistro oasis Soul d’ Afrique, trading as Truffles On The Park, recently won round one of its court battle with the Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) to trade in Mushroom Park.

Restaurant owners took to the courts to obtain an urgent court interdict after the city tried to have the restaurant evicted.

Co-owner Carmen Graham alleged that JCPZ officials attempted to disrupt operations at the restaurant on a number of occasions.

“They started coming to the park in November 2021 to confiscate our generator. On another occasion, in March 2022, JCPZ showed up with JMPD to evict us. Similar incidents occurred in April and July.”

In a more recent occurrence last month (September), there was an interference with restaurant patrons to enforce park bylaws, which includes the strict closure of the park at 18:00.

Graham added that because restaurant goers were directly being affected, Truffles had no choice but to go to court, where it successfully lobbied the Johannesburg High Court on October 12, judgment granted on October 14, to bar JCPZ and its partners, Mushroom Park Activations, from interfering with business operations.

“This was a big win for us because they [JCPZ and its partners] have been attempting to evict us actively since November 2021.”

JCPZ acting managing director Marks Sethaelo said that while the entity will be complying with the interim order, it will be opposing the application as Truffles On The Park has no standing lease agreement with the City to operate in the park.

According to JCPZ, while Truffles On The Park opened its doors in 2018, it was done with the help if its partners Aerial Display, who entered into a lease agreement with the Johannesburg Property Company to operate a passenger balloon at Mushroom Park from the City of Johannesburg.

Aerial Display was however liquidated in 2018 but the restaurant continued trading even though the lease agreement was between the City and Aerial Displays.

“[The application] infringes the bylaws and no valid lease agreement is in place between Truffles, the City of Johannesburg or any of its entities. JCPZ instituted a counter application to seek the enforcement of the by-laws.”

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Graham added that the restaurant continually interacted with the City since 2018 to divert the original lease agreement to the restaurant owners to support the sizable private investment made into the public park and the rental payments made.

After almost four years in operation, today Truffles On The Park employs 45 people and has continued to contribute to the upkeep of Mushroom Park.

“We have survived through a pandemic, we maintain the safety and security of the park 24 hours a day and maintain the grounds around the restaurant,” said Graham.

Meanwhile a petition to save the restaurant, started by one of its owners Josef Schmid, has gained traction, generating over 2 500 signatures over two weeks.

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