City of Joburg’s dysfunction leaves Sandton landmark in a mess of leases and lawsuits

A pivotal public park in Sandton, a defunct balloon operator, a successor company asserting rights, and a restaurant without a lease – all caught in a turf war between two City of Joburg entities that cannot agree who is in charge.

Mushroom Farm Park in Sandton, once hailed as a flagship public–private partnership, has instead become a legal and administrative mess involving Aerial Display, Mushroom Park Activations, and Truffles on the Park.

What began as a simple public-private partnership to generate revenue for the City has spiralled into contradictory statements, a High Court battle, a bitter criminal case and allegations of Municipal Finance Management Act breaches, leaving thousands of daily park users caught in the middle.

In 2009, Aerial Display (Pty) Ltd, led by balloon entrepreneur Francis Chikasha, was formally appointed by the City of Joburg to operate in Mushroom Farm Park after full public participation and Council approval.

The company installed the tethered helium balloon that became a Sandton icon and undertook early upgrades to the park.

During this period, Aerial Display entered into a partnership with investors, Soul d’Afrique, who later built the restaurant, Truffles on the Park. The balloon and the restaurant were intended to operate as an integrated attraction. But in 2018, Aerial Display went into liquidation.

The balloon shut down and the site was abandoned. Crucially, the City never terminated, replaced or reassigned the lease, leaving the land in legal limbo.

Despite Aerial Display’s liquidation, the restaurant partners proceeded with construction and opened Truffles on the Park in 2019.

They argue that their presence was a continuation of their earlier partnership with Aerial Display and that senior City officials assured them that a lease deviation was being finalised.

Owner Josef Schmid said they had operated “in good faith from day one”.

“We invested millions with the understanding that the City was regularising the paperwork. At no point were we told to stop. To this day, we maintain and secure the whole park at our expense.”

He produced proof of multiple payments made over several years – some into Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) bank accounts, others into Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) accounts.

But despite the City accepting the payments, and emailing a letter of thanks to Truffles for investments in playgrounds, solar lighting and benches, no formal lease exists.

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Following Aerial Display’s collapse, a related company, Mushroom Park Activations (MPA), emerged. MPA did not inherit Aerial Display’s lease. Instead, it operated under a Park Adoption Agreement – a non-commercial agreement that does not grant occupation or rental rights.

Despite this, MPA has asserted that it is the legitimate successor to Aerial Display and retains custodianship of the balloon infrastructure.

In 2022, escalating conflict between Truffles, MPA and City Parks led the restaurant to file an urgent application in the Johannesburg High Court. Truffles alleged harassment of staff, attempted lockouts, interference with electricity, unauthorised interference with security and attempts to force 6pm closures to drive them out.

The court found that the City and MPA had unlawfully interfered. It held that the City had created a de facto tenancy through its conduct.

The court interdicted City Parks and MPA from interfering with Truffles’ business and ordered them to pay costs.

MPA’s Francis Chikasha maintains the judge erred – but despite its stated confidence, it did not appeal.

The most explosive dispute concerns the removal of the old balloon cage, which led to a criminal charge against Schmid. MPA claims the cage was its property, that it was illegally removed and destroyed, and that the destruction was criminal.
City Parks has an entirely different version.

Spokesperson Jenny Moodley said: “The structure had become dangerous, was abandoned, and the previous leaseholder had failed to fulfil its maintenance obligations. City Parks authorised its removal because it posed a risk to public safety.”

She said City Parks instructed Truffles to remove the derelict structure after the City exhausted attempts to reach the former operator.

The saga shows dysfunction between the Johannesburg Property Company, responsible for municipal leases, and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo, responsible for park management, ward councillor Andrew Stewart said.

Instead of collaborating, the two entities have given opposing instructions, accepted rental into different accounts, filed contradictory affidavits, and failed to reissue a lawful lease for seven years.

“At times it felt like dealing with two different cities. City Parks says one thing, JPC says another, and meanwhile, a restaurant is a tenant without any lease and accepting money when there is no lease is an MFMA violation,” said Stewart.

Commenting further, Moodley said all long-term leases must be processed through JPC and that City Parks does not issue leases.

David Bates, chairperson emeritus of the Mushroom Farm Conservancy Association, said he was not willing to get involved in the dispute, adding that the association focuses on environmental stewardship rather than commercial battles.

City Parks says it is reviewing the situation. JPC did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

In a further development, on January 21, the senior prosecutor withdrew all criminal charges. Schmid said the matter would now proceed as a malicious prosecution claim, adding that negotiations with JPC had resumed and that the parties were awaiting a new lease and park adoption agreement.

Chikasha referred this publication’s questions to his attorney for comment, but no response was received by the time of publication.

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