Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Residents hold vigil for Octavia, 16
MEC says parents shouldn’t protect gangsters
“I WAS busy dishing up food for my children when a neighbour’s child came running into my kitchen to say Tavia had been shot and was lying near the tuckshop.”
This is how a mother, Johanna Johannessen, heard her 16- year- old daughter Octavia had been shot metres away from her home. The Grade 9 pupil was killed by stray bullets during an alleged gang battle in Hanover Park on Tuesday night.
According to Johannessen, Octavia was found face-down on a pavement and paramedics tried to save her but the Crystal High pupil died there.
“I am numb,” said the 47-year-old mother when the Weekend Argus visited the family home.
On Thursday night a vigil was held outside the teen’s home, close to the spot where she was shot dead. Hundreds of Hanover Park residents and children came out to support the Johannessen family, who were struggling to come to terms with the murder.
Pupils from Crystal High and local primary schools, community members and various civil society organisations lit candles and marched from the Johannessen home to the tuckshop where Octavia, or Tavia, as she was affectionately known, became yet another statistic of gang violence. The aspiring sports star was a member of the Blue Birds United Netball Club and according to many in the area, was a “bubbly and always smiling” child.
The teenager was wellknown and loved at school and was en route to her grandmother’s house when she was hit by three stray bullets.
Several neighbours who spoke to Weekend Argus on condition of anonymity alleged that Octavia’s boyfriend was a member of the Americans gang and this may have caused her death. However, the Johan- nessen family denied that he was involved with any gangs and added that he did not live in Hanover Park but in Mitchells Plain.
“He is not a gangster; he drinks, yes, and he smokes but he is not a gangster,” said Octavia’s sister, Monique Johannessen.
Her best friend, Jade Nathan, said Octavia wanted to get out of Hanover Park and travel once she completed her studies.
“Tavia always wanted to go to the US and she always said she wanted to live somewhere quiet, far away from the noise of this place,” said Nathan.
The Grade 11 pupil told Weekend Argus school for her will never be the same.
“I am shocked, devastated and I can’t even speak,” she added. Nathan said she has become more withdrawn at school and doubts her life will ever be the same again.
MEC for Community Safety Dan Plato addressed residents at the vigil, saying parents knew what their children got up to.
“If you know your child has a gun or is involved with drugs and gangs and you do nothing, you are harbouring a murderer,” Plato said. The MEC expressed anger that Octavia’s killing came as South Africa was celebrating Women’s Month.
“We cannot give up,” said Plato much to the delight of the crowds who shared his sentiments with much clapping, fist- pumping and shouts of “yes MEC” ringing out across Howick Court in Hanover Park.
Hanover Park Women’s Development Forum member Muriel George called on residents to black out their windows in solidarity with every mother whose child has fallen victim to gang violence.
“Enough is enough,” screamed George.
Soldiers With A Testimony (Swat), a local organisation campaigning against gangsterism in Hanover Park, said drug abuse and gangsterism were to be blamed for the killing.
“Our teenagers are being wiped out because of drugs,” said a member, Ricardo Lieben- berg. Another Swat member and father of three, Gerard Thobejane, said he had lost count of how many vigils he had attended, adding that the killings had become “normal” in the area.
“There is no police visibility and the community has lost belief in the police.
“You can pay police R500 and your murder case docket can just disappear,” said Thobejane.
Asked whether the community was working with the police to stem the tide of gang violence he said: “The police just tell us they are investigating and that they will follow up.”
The police have not made any arrests in the case.
According to the Johannessen family, Octavia will be laid to rest next Saturday.