June 1, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
A PARK in the middle of Soweto filled with Chinese plants and ornaments? This exciting development is on the cards, with Johannesburg City Parks busy drawing up plans.
The idea is to introduce the people of Soweto to different cultures, the managing director of City Parks, Luther Williamson, told a delegation of visitors from China during a meeting on Tuesday 30 May.
Delegation and City Parks Staff at the Zoo Lake
The delegation – from 11 park authorities across China – is visiting Johannesburg to study various parks and public open spaces across the City. During their tour of City Parks facilities, the group stopped at Zoo Lake in Saxonwold, the Botanical Gardens in Emmarentia and Thokoza Park in Soweto.
Williamson spoke about plans for a greener Johannesburg and said: "We want to introduce the people [of Soweto] to Chinese culture." The idea is to create a landscaped open public space similar in size to Thokoza Park (27ha) with Chinese plants and signs.
An indirect benefit of establishing the park would be the building of a business relationship between City Parks and its counterparts in China.
"Our interest is in the future of greening," said Liu Jiafu, the programming director for China's national construction department.
During their tour, the visitors learned more about the City's parks and their history.
An interesting contrast was evident in comparing the size of public open space in Johannesburg to the limited space available in China, according to the media relations manager of City Parks, Jenny Moodley.
Zoo Lake
Zoo Lake, in existence for 100 years, is unique in that it has always been open to all races. In 1904 a private forest called the Sachenwald was given as a "deed of gift" to "the inhabitants of Johannesburg … to be used for the purpose of a public park" and to be called the Hermann Eckstein Park.
The forest was planted with pine trees by the mine owners of Corner House, for use in mine shafts. The community of Joburg used the forest for picnics and horse-riding. The forest also housed an odd collection of wild animals, brought back from bush trips by Percy Fitzpatrick.
Zoo Lake used to be marshy and unsuitable for development. However, in 1906 the City decided to build a miniature lake as a poverty-relief measure during the depression that followed the South African War of 1899 to 1902. The Corner House owners donated the land to the City, with its all-races stipulation, in memory of one of their partners, Hermann Eckstein.
The Johannesburg Zoo was also part of the donation, which incorporated Fitzpatrick's animal collection.
The park has been known as Zoo Lake since the 1920s, a name that has stuck. The recreation area is popular: a jazz concert and a carols-by-candlelight event take place every year.
Johannesburg Botanical Gardens
According to the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens website, the garden was founded in 1968. Its total area is 81ha.
View of Johannesburg Botanical Gardens
Forty-two families of plants are housed there. The Johannesburg Botanical Gardens horticulturist, Lindelani Nwedo, says: "We have 20 percent local plants and the rest are exotic. We are trying to make it 50 percent of local, 50 percent exotic."
The Botanical Gardens, home to South African and exotic trees, has three theme gardens: the herb garden, the rose garden and the Shakespeare garden.
The herb garden contains old traditional herbs and a section devoted to African medicinal herbs, as well as culinary herbs, international medicinal herbs, cosmetic herbs, oil-yielding herbs and herbs used for the production of dyes.
The rose garden comprises patterned rose-beds punctuated by immaculate lawns extending over seven sloping terraces.
The Shakespeare garden grows flowers noted by Shakespeare in the 16th century; all are labelled with their names and quotations from his play A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Natural areas have been retained within the garden, including swamp areas, part of the perennial stream that runs through the garden.
Thokoza Park
Thokoza Park and Dam used to be two severely neglected areas in Soweto but are now green spots where Sowetans enjoy braais and picnics every weekend.
The park has a series of curved half-metre high walls with handy built-in braais built down the centre of the lower half of the park. Sparkling water meanders from the dam through the park, lined with well-established weeping willows. Community participation was at the heart of the project, which explains why this area has become the pride of Sowetans.
Ludwig Holtzhausen, the Zone 3 manager for City Parks, says: "The success of the park is the result of a substantial contribution from the community."
The park includes Regina Mundi Memorial Park.
According to Nokwazi Ndlala, the general manager of the Project Management Unit for Joburg City Parks, at least R20-million goes towards the running costs of each park every year.
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