A group of Overcome Heights residents took their plight on gun and gang violence to Parliament, by chaining themselves to the gates of the building.  

The protest on Tuesday, led mainly by mothers, sought to highlight the desperate circumstances in Muizenberg informal settlement. 

The group chained themselves to the gate, saying they are fed up with handing over petitions which they believe are being ignored. 

Among the demands is that the army be deployed to Overcome Heights, as they battle with what they describe as gang in-fighting.  

In support of the protestors, ActionSA MP, Dereleen James,was on the scene. 

“ActionSA supports the community of Overcome Heights, calling on the President to finally act and backing ActionSA’s request that he declare a state of emergency on the Cape Flats, where the bloodshed has reached a point of no return,” James said in a statement. 

In the video, James said she would again table a motion in Parliament on Tuesday, highlighting the plight of people living in gun- and gang-ridden communities in the Cape Flats.  

“These community members have rightly decried the bloodshed in their community, where the daily sound of gunfire, near-daily deaths, and the inability of children to attend school have created a state of terror that now defines life on the Cape Flats,” James said in a statement. 

James further confirmed that ActionSA has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, in a letter handed over to him last week, calling for him to also take decisive action. 

She said she has also written to Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, urging immediate action against gangs. 

“We have further asked him, given how overstretched the police are and the absence of any discernible plan to end the scourge of gang violence, whether he will support our call for the declaration of a state of emergency. ActionSA sees no other avenue than such a declaration.”

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