Friends of Delta

Friends of Delta was founded in Spring 2023 by a small group of residents from the suburbs surrounding Delta Park. They came together with a shared goal: to help restore, protect and enhance one of Johannesburg’s most loved green spaces through practical, ongoing action.

What began as a community-led effort to improve safety, repair infrastructure, report environmental issues, support security coordination and care for the park has grown into a broader collaborative initiative focused on keeping Delta Park clean, safe, functional and welcoming for everyone who uses it.

Today, Friends of Delta operates as an initiative under the CraigPark Residents’ Association, with all park-related donations and expenditure ring-fenced specifically for Delta Park projects and operations. This structure allows for greater transparency, better coordination and the ability to make a more meaningful and lasting impact in the park.

Delta Park does not stay beautiful, safe and well maintained by accident. It takes daily attention, community involvement, practical action and ongoing funding.

From security support and maintenance initiatives to environmental improvements, clean-ups and urgent response efforts, every contribution helps keep the park in the condition we all want to enjoy.

 

Our Impact

Since Friends of Delta was established in 2023, our focus has been simple: practical action that makes Delta Park cleaner, safer, better maintained and more difficult to misuse.

Working together with residents, volunteers, security partners and other stakeholders, Friends of Delta has helped drive a significant improvement in conditions across the park.

 

Daily Security Presence

Friends of Delta funds a private security team that patrols and moves throughout the park every day.

Their presence helps identify and respond to safety concerns, monitor problem areas, report damage and illegal activity, and discourage the establishment of unauthorised encampments and structures within the park.

The security team has also developed strong working relationships with relevant stakeholders and authorities, helping to ensure that issues requiring further intervention are identified, reported and followed up.

 

Making the Park Safer and More Visible

Overgrown vegetation can create concealed areas that present safety concerns and make parts of the park vulnerable to unauthorised occupation.

Friends of Delta regularly supports the cutting back and clearing of problem areas to improve visibility, reduce places of concealment and help keep public areas accessible and safe.

We also assist with the management and removal of invasive alien vegetation in priority areas of the park.

 

Protecting the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary

In October 2023, it was estimated that approximately 50 people were living within the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary, with a number of informal structures established inside this important protected area.

As one of our first major projects, Friends of Delta helped repair and secure sections of the sanctuary fence and worked with stakeholders to ensure sustained attention was given to the unauthorised occupation of the sanctuary.

Today, there are no informal structures within the sanctuary.

The sanctuary is once again providing a safer and more protected environment for wildlife, including Long-crested Eagles, Black Sparrowhawks and many other bird species.

This is one of the clearest examples of what sustained community involvement, security, environmental management and practical intervention can achieve.

 

Removing Tonnes of Waste from Delta Park

One of the most visible challenges Friends of Delta inherited was the enormous amount of rubbish and discarded material accumulating in parts of the park.

With the help of generous volunteers and funding from Friends of Delta, we have removed at least 15 four-ton truckloads of rubbish and accumulated material from the park.

This has included large quantities of discarded waste and material collected for informal recycling, as well as damaged appliances, stripped electrical equipment and stolen infrastructure, including stolen Eskom cables.

In addition to these major clean-up operations, our security team has removed at least one bakkie load of rubbish from Delta Park every week since October 2023.

 

Discouraging Permanent Occupation

A public park needs to remain a public park.

Friends of Delta works continuously to identify emerging encampments and unauthorised structures before they become established.

Through regular security patrols, vegetation management, clean-ups, reporting and engagement with the appropriate authorities, we aim to prevent areas of Delta Park from becoming permanently occupied.

This is ongoing work and requires consistent attention. Problems that are ignored tend to grow. Early intervention helps protect the park and keep it accessible for everyone who uses it.

 

A Cleaner and Safer Delta Park

The difference since Friends of Delta began operating is visible.

Delta Park is cleaner. Problem areas are better monitored. Large volumes of accumulated waste have been removed. Areas that were heavily overgrown have been opened up. The Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary has been better protected. Security presence throughout the park has increased.

There is still a great deal of work to do, but the progress demonstrates what is possible when a community moves beyond simply reporting problems and starts actively helping to solve them.

 

What We Do Every Week

Friends of Delta helps fund and coordinate:

• Daily private security patrols throughout Delta Park
• Identification and reporting of safety and security concerns
• Early intervention where unauthorised encampments or structures begin to develop
• Cutting back overgrown vegetation in priority safety areas
• Management of invasive alien vegetation in problem areas
• Removal of rubbish and illegally dumped material
• Support for the protection of the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary
• Repairs and practical maintenance initiatives
• Coordination with residents, volunteers, stakeholders and relevant authorities
• Rapid response to problems identified on the ground

 

Become a Friend of Delta

You do not need to live within the CraigPark Residents’ Association area to support Delta Park.

If you use the park, love the park, walk your dogs there, run there, visit with your family, enjoy the bird sanctuary or simply believe that shared green spaces matter, becoming a Friend of Delta is a practical way to help protect and improve it.

Monthly contributions start from R50 and help fund the ongoing work needed to keep Delta Park clean, safe, functional and protected. This includes security support, maintenance, environmental improvements, clean-ups and rapid response to issues identified on the ground.

Those who are able to contribute more are very welcome to do so, and once-off donations can also be arranged.

Every rand donated to Friends of Delta is used solely for the upkeep, protection and improvement of Delta Park. Friends of Delta is run by volunteers, and no member of the team receives any financial benefit from these donations.

 

Help us keep Delta Park clean, safe, beautiful and thriving for everyone.

Become a Friend of Delta from just R50 per month and be part of the community effort helping to protect and improve this special park.

 

Sign up here: https://paystack.shop/pay/friendsofdelta