February 24, 2005
By Lucille Davie
AN indigenous garden just beyond Hillbrow - The Wilds - is just as beautiful as it has always been. All it needs is for Joburgers to re-discover it.
One person who wants to kick-start that re-discovery is Yeoville resident TJ de Klerk, who has been walking The Wilds with his dogs since 1988, sometimes twice a day, and loves the garden's wild beauty and situation in the middle of the suburbs.
A stony waterfall in the depths of The Wilds
"There are hardly any walkers in The Wilds, and that's a pity because the park is so beautiful," he says. Even the people who live on the edges of The Wilds don't utilise this treasure, he says.
The garden, donated to the City by the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company in 1925 on condition that it remains as "an open space for the recreation of the public". From 1936 it was planted with indigenous flora only and has become a splendid, 40-acre piece of land blooming with the best of South Africa's home-grown. In 1981 it was declared a national monument.
Opened to the public in 1938, its fortunes have ebbed in the past decade as people have avoided its beautifully laid stone paths, immaculate lawns and delightful ponds, fearful of muggings and rape.
In 1996 702 Radio presenter Denis Smith was stripped naked by thieves, who drove off in his car. Rapes were also reported around that time.
Crime will always be a problem in parks that are used infrequently. Johannesburg City Parks (JCP) has two park wardens in the garden, and one warden stationed at the parking area in Houghton Drive. Walkers will probably come across one or two of the 23 gardeners who work in the garden. But because of the extent of the park it’s not safe to walk alone or even as a pair in the garden.
De Klerk says that, in an effort to get people back on a daily basis into The Wilds, he is willing to take anyone on walks through the park.
Straddling Houghton and Killarney, just below Hillbrow, The Wilds is positioned on the Parktown ridge and offers unusual views of the Hillbrow Tower and Ponte to the south and Sandton City to the north.
It is planted with many varieties of Cape fynbos, cycads, huge strelitzias, beds of clivias, large arum lilies, proteas and trees such as yellowwood and cabbage.
The small restaurant used to be a popular place for Joburgers but after it was badly damaged by an out-of-control truck, it caught fire and closed in 1992. Its roof has been replaced and the space now serves as the office of Enos Mhlanga, the chief horticulturist of The Wilds.
Mhlanga has been working at the garden since 1989 and says he likes its indigenous flora - it reminds him of his home in Bushbuckridge, in Mpumalanga.
He says people are coming back to The Wilds at the weekends, particularly wedding parties, which come for photo and singing sessions. Smaller groups come with their meat and braais and enjoy the lush surrounds.
Unfortunately the borehole, on the eastern side of the garden, is broken.
The park is crisscrossed with paths and running alongside the pathways is a system of paved waterways, fed by the borehole. Alan Buff, the technical support and horticulturist training specialist at City Parks, says the department is aware of the broken borehole, and will be repairing it in the coming months.
Once the borehole is fixed, these streams will run again, restoring this attractive feature.
To visit The Wilds, secure parking is available on Houghton Drive. As with all parks the world over, the usual precautions - not walking alone and not carrying valuables – must be taken.
JCP will arrange for 10 or more walkers to be accompanied by a park warden – phone 011 712 6600 or e-mail jcp@jhbcityparks.com. Alternatively, De Klerk offers organised walks twice a month and on public holidays, and although not a botanist, he can impart his immense enthusiasm for The Wilds. Call him on 082 554 9972 to join his next walk.
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