How did artist James Delaney end up reviving a neglected and overgrown indigenous park in Jozi? His dog Pablo needed a walk.
Johannesburg, South Africa (30 September 2026) – Friends, this week’s episode of The Hope Dealers takes us up onto the ridges above the city, to a park that a lot of Joburgers once wouldn’t set foot in.
In episode nine of her series celebrating the people making Johannesburg a better place, Mandy Wiener heads to The Wilds, where artist and activist James Delaney has spent years helping to reclaim a space that had been left to crime, neglect and overgrowth.
The Wilds was donated to the city in 1925 and laid out in the 1930s and ‘40s, with more than 6km of hand-built stone pathways, waterfalls, ponds and terraces that follow the natural contours of the ridge. It was designed as a showcase of Highveld plants and rock formations and was a popular escape for city residents. Over time though, it became dark, overgrown and known as a place to avoid.
When James moved into a flat in Killarney in 2014, he had no plans to fix any of that. He just had a dog called Pablo who needed walking.
Venturing further into the overgrown park, bit by bit, James started trimming plants that needed some TLC and pulling out weeds. Eventually he came armed with a bucket and a few tools. It became a labour of love that happened on walks with Pablo. Still, he had no plan to bring the park back to life – that only came a few years later.
James discovered a forest of yellowwood trees inside the park and wondered how to get people to come and see it. Leaning into his background as an artist, he created a series of steel birds and unveiled them as a Mandela Day activation in 2017. The car park was overflowing that day. Since then, the park’s collection has grown to include giraffes (the pink ones can be spotted from the highway), antelope and monkeys, all scattered throughout The Wilds for visitors to find.
Community is what keeps The Wilds going. Signs around the park say hello in different languages and, instead of telling people what not to do, they say thank you for keeping the park clean. It seems to work. On a busy Sunday, with plenty of walkers about, James points out that the place is totally spotless.
“It can’t exist without the people,” he says.
In this episode, Mandy also makes a short stop at Indwe Park in Braamfontein, a 4-hectare garden built by Liberty opposite Wits University. Named after the blue crane, South Africa’s national bird, it gives the people who live and work in the inner city a peaceful place to touch grass and reconnect with nature. You’ll have to watch the episode to see what Mandy makes of it!
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Temu Refused to Leave His Poisoned Dog's Side and Love Won the Day!The Wilds is the ninth of ten stories featured in The Hope Dealers, which introduces South Africans who are making the city better in practical ways. Watch the episode below, then pack a picnic and go and find the owls!
You can follow Mandy’s journey via her social media. Check out her Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X for more information.
The series will also be available on Primedia+, EWN and across Primedia and Mandy’s social media platforms. The audio interviews will also be released as podcasts and broadcast on The Midday Report.
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