A woman who once managed a Katlehong park has taken charge of 340 of Johannesburg’s `green lungs’, writes Luvuyo Kakaza
The sun slants over the green trees of Rhodes Park in Kensington, Johannesburg, where Michelle van Blerk is the new “boss”. Besides this vibrant park, she is responsible for maintaining 340 municipal parks in the eastern metropolitan area.
It’s a normal weekday and relaxation proceeds as usual: a couple settles down to a meal at the modest restaurant, an elderly lady walks her dog, some workers are busy maintaining a broken pipe.
“Workers here have really pulled up their socks,” she says. “In the past they had all sorts of excuses not to work. If they didn’t like their manager, they would embark on a go-slow.”
Van Blerk, who previously managed a park in Katlehong on the East Rand for three years, is now in charge of 560 staff members. She has to divide her time among her various parks, making it difficult to keep “law and order” constantly in one park.
Rhodes has become her favourite because she saved it from urban decay. Before she took over, it had become a hide-out for criminals and ordinary citizens had stopped frequenting it.
“Rhodes was not the only problematic area. Pieter Roos in Parktown had become a soccer field and a gambling turf. In downtown Joubert Park, street children were turning dustbins into homes where they would sleep,” she says.
Saving the parks from going downhill is not easy. Working with a tiny budget, Van Blerk is tasked with bringing back a vibrant culture in the parks and changing people’s attitudes. But dealing with such responsibilities is fun rather than a nightmare for her.
“I took over in 1997 in exciting times. During the transformation of the council, things changed. Workers were reluctant to do their work properly and residents had negative attitudes.”
For the next 10 months, there was no management and decay took its toll. Instead of co-operating with the council to solve these problems, residents demanded quick delivery of services to save their parks.
“People had forgotten that regional parks are residential property, and residents have to take part in the daily duties while the council sticks to other responsibilities such as the cutting of the grass, repairing broken pipes and making sure the parks remain colourful.”
Financial constraints in the council’s budgets added to the problems. “Rent boycotts and transformation affected delivery, resulting in a decline of services.
“But the future looks bright now. The Egoli 2000 programme is aimed at transforming greater Johannesburg into a beautiful city between 2000 and 2002.”
One of the Egoli 2000 plans, Van Blerk says, is that parks should move away from the council’s bureaucracy. She believes they will work better if they operate with their own budgets and with corporate assistance.
“For our parks to survive, we need to run them like businesses, with big companies sponsoring certain ventures like the establishment of botanical gardens.”
Because the council won’t allow advertising of company brand names, it has so far been difficult to draw in businesses. But Van Blerk believes a compromise can be reached by having small labels on certain items.
She emphasises that corporations should not be the only stakeholders and that communities at large should play an important role. Schoolchildren, for instance, should take over responsibility for some of the flower beds in the parks to teach them to respect and preserve nature.
Van Blerk says it is time for communities to get more involved in their “green lungs”. “Norwood is a good example, where residents get children to collect papers from their park. Other communities have to follow this example, even if it means just locking up the park after hours.”
If communities take on such responsibilities, the council would be able to dedicate more resources towards enforcing the by-laws in parks. “The best idea will be to have security men on horseback to deal with crime and people who generally break the laws,” she says.