A week of horror has gripped Cape Town, where six children have been brutally attacked — and four never made it home. A community is shaken, terrified, and demanding answers.

The GOOD Party has condemned this alarming trend, calling it a ‘moral collapse’ and demanding urgent action to protect the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

The party’s City of Cape Town councillor, Jonathan Cupido, said the spike in attacks, which occurred during the national 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, represents “a sickening contradiction” to a campaign meant to highlight the protection of the vulnerable.

“In the space of one week, at least six children, aged between four and 16, were victims of brutal violence, including multiple murders and shootings,” Cupido said.

“To have six of our children brutalised in a single week, four of them murdered, at a time when we are meant to be amplifying the call to protect the vulnerable, is a moral collapse.”

The incidents include the murder of a nine-year-old boy during an attack on his Mitchells Plain home, where two adults were also killed; the rape and murder of a 16-year-old in Khayelitsha, for which a 17-year-old has been arrested; the shooting of a 14-year-old girl in Kensington; and the wounding of another teenage girl in Manenberg. Two 15-year-old children were also shot and wounded in separate incidents in Retreat and Eerste River.

“These are not just statistics; they are shattered futures, devastated families, and a damning indictment of the failure to safeguard our most precious citizens,” Cupido said.

The GOOD Party has called for an urgent, coordinated intervention from law enforcement and prosecutors.

Cupido urged authorities to “ensure all perpetrators responsible for these heinous crimes are arrested swiftly and without fail,” and demanded that the National Prosecuting Authority prioritise convictions to ensure “those responsible are held behind bars and removed from our communities.”

He further called for increased visible policing in gang and violence hotspots, saying proactive strategies are essential to prevent further attacks on children.

Beyond policing, Cupido said the crisis highlights the urgent need for deeper social investment. The party is calling on all spheres of government to direct more resources to social development.

Strengthening these programmes, he argued, is key to addressing “the root causes of these actions” and improving the socio-economic conditions that fuel cycles of violence.

“Our children deserve to grow up safe, free from the daily terror of gun violence and predatory attacks,” Cupido said.

“If the 16 Days of Activism is to mean anything, it must translate into 365 days of action and accountability for those who harm women and children.”

IOL News

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