Joubert Park, the city's oldest park

RELATED LINKS: Johannesburg City Parks JOHANNESBURG City Parks, a self-contained business owned by the City council, is responsible for the maintenance and development of Johannesburg's parks and cemeteries. Read more Leash that dog, warns City Parks PET owners listen up: City Parks is running a campaign to inform people of by-laws regarding pets. Dogs must be on leashes at parks, and dog mess must be cleaned up. Read more Public open spaces by-laws THE City's by-laws, in Acrobat format. Read more [Acrobat format: 296kb] Cemetery cots to be removed A FAMILIAR sight in Johannesburg's cemeteries is the thousands of metal cots edging individual graves. But now Johannesburg City Parks is to embark on a campaign to have these cots - often neglected or vandalised - removed. Read more Remembering Karabo THE sad death of Karabo Gwala, the three-year-old boy who died after falling into an open drain, has spurred a new awareness campaign. Read more Urban forest IT'S official - there are six million trees in Johannesburg. On satellite pictures, the city looks like a rain forest. There are 1,2 million trees within the parks and on the pavements, and 4,8 million in private gardens. Read more

The Wilds, the indigenous garden just beyond Hillbrow

More guards for city's parks CITY Parks has appointed 20 new wardens to patrol its parks, cemeteries and open spaces to ensure by-laws are enforced. June 3, 2005 By Ndaba Dlamini CITY Parks has beefed up security personnel to keep a watchful eye on its parks, cemeteries and open spaces. Oscar Oliphant, the community liaison manager for Johannesburg City Parks, says 20 wardens have been employed to reinforce the existing number of guards who patrol and monitor its properties. "The idea to secure the city's parks was brought up two years ago when five park wardens were introduced to monitor the city's parks. Their mandate is to report any suspicious behaviour, illegal dumping, cutting down of trees and grazing in city parks. They are a deterrent to any unlawful acts," Oliphant says. The wardens act more like the Johannesburg Metro Police, but they do not have the authority to enforce any City by-laws. "The city has been divided into four zones; each zone has been allocated a particular team. The wardens drive around the city's parks on a routine basis and if they encounter any unlawful actions being conducted, they call on the South African Police Service (SAPS) or the Metro Police to respond." Oliphant says the wardens work "very closely" with the SAPS and the Metro Police in terms of joint operations. "The three units sometimes organise a particular day when they stage an operation in a particular area in the city to enforce law and order." As a means of bolstering the force and making it more professional, the utility in April last year appointed a woman from the SAPS to be full-time warden manager. "We went a step further and employed a gentleman from the Johannesburg Metro Police Department to be the operations officer in April this year," Oliphant adds. The operations officer makes sure all the routes are patrolled by the wardens and that complaints are responded to; he also submits reports on the wardens' operations. Park wardens also act as ambassadors for the company: they educate the public about city by-laws concerning the parks, cemeteries and open spaces. According to Oliphant, the wardens also provide other services during City functions. "They play a vital role in directing people where to park, especially during events like the forthcoming opening ceremony of the Karabo Gwala Park." 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