CASE STUDY 4

Activations: Ernest Oppenheimer Park: Bringing Joy Back to the Inner City

“Safe public places where people can play and connect bring life back to the whole city.”
Angel Khumalo, Founder, Platinum Sketch

Public space activation is one of the JICP’s two core focus areas, alongside waste management. While cleaning restores functionality, activation restores life. On the Walkable Network, JICP works to ensure that streets, parks and civic spaces are not only maintained, but actively used and meaningfully programmed.

Ernest Oppenheimer Park, located behind the historic Rissik Street Post Office, forms part of this broader activation strategy. Although it was rehabilitated in 2010, sustaining the park’s value demands continuous stewardship, safety coordination and structured programming. Park activation is one approach within JICP’s wider public space efforts across multiple sites on the Walkable Network.

Platinum Sketch, led by Angel Khumalo, is one of JICP’s implementation partners working on this programme under the Social Employment Fund (SEF). Through indigenous games, arts and crafts, after-school activities and weekend programming, the organisation contributes to repositioning the park as a space for play, learning and connection.

Angel’s relationship to the inner city is personal. Having grown up in an abandoned inner city building, she understands the scarcity of safe recreational space for children living in dense urban environments.

“Unlike township children, inner city children are very limited when it comes to places to go and things to do after school. Safe public places where people can play and connect bring life back to the whole city.”
Angel Khumalo, Founder, Platinum Sketch

Beyond programming, Platinum Sketch supports coordinated safety ambassadors and regular cleaning drives, working alongside JICP’s broader public space teams to maintain accessibility and dignity. Activation in this context is not a once-off event; it is sustained presence.

The objective extends beyond hosting activities. It is about shifting perception — from neglected space to shared civic asset.

Through structured activation, consistent stewardship and spatial targeting on the Walkable Network, JICP demonstrates how actively cared-for public spaces strengthen safety, belonging and long-term urban regeneration.

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