Park benches at The Wilds in Houghton

RELATED LINKS: Who looks after Johannesburg's parks? Johannesburg City Parks, a self-contained business owned by the City Council, is the agency responsible for the maintenance and development of Johannesburg's parks and cemeteries. Read more The social uses of parks in the city Since it was upgraded and reopened to the public last year, Thokoza Park in Rockville, Soweto, has been bustling with activity, attracting hordes of revellers to its lush green grounds. Read more Tough love reclaims inner city parks You know that your parks reclamation programme is working when kids queue up to tell you about older kids spraying graffiti on the newly cleaned park walls. Read more

Sponsor a park bench

Put your feet up in a Joburg park January 16, 2004 By Lucky Sindane CITY PARKS spends R250 000 a year buying benches for the many parks around the city as part of an ongoing campaign to make Johannesburg's open spaces people-friendly. The emphasis is on upgrading parklands in the poorer areas, where attractive open spaces are needed for residents to have picnics or play informal games of football, listen to the latest hits on portable gumba-gumbas or simply just chill out with friends. City Parks buys benches twice a year for the city's numerous parks and cemeteries. This project is currently sponsored from a trust set up in terms of a bequest by the late George Elkin, which donates an average of R200 000 each year to City Parks. This year the agency plans to put benches in all the parks in Soweto and in the two cemeteries in Alexandra. Recently City Parks placed 50 benches in parks around Soweto and has ordered a further 70 benches. City Parks will also be developing parks in Orange Farm and plans to put benches in these new open spaces. "We normally look at parks in disadvantaged areas like Orange Farm, Soweto and Alexandra. Most of the parks in these areas don't have benches, so when we purchase benches we put them in those areas," said Alan Buff, the general manager, technical support, of City Parks. Individuals and companies sometimes sponsor benches in specific parks and a small plaque is placed on the bench. "Sometimes people approach us and ask if they can donate a bench. Some want this done in the memory of a loved one who has passed away," said Buff. There are two types of benches - one with a table and a stand-alone bench. Benches and tables are made of poly wood, a recyclable long-lasting material. A bench costs about R1 800, while a bench and table costs about R3 000. Individuals and companies interested in funding benches can contact City Park's Alan Buff at 011 712 6605. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za