Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis fought back emotion in Ocean View as a community park was officially renamed in memory of seven-year-old Emaan Solomons, six years after she was killed by stray bullets while playing outside her home.
Libra Road Park has now become the Emaan Oosthuizen Memorial Park, following an unveiling attended by Hill-Lewis, Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews, Emaan’s family, and members of the Ocean View community.
The renaming marks a deeply painful yet meaningful moment for Emaan’s loved ones, who have spent years carrying the grief of losing a child to gang violence. For her father, Azmir Oosthuizen, the occasion was especially difficult as it took place during the month in which his daughter would have celebrated her birthday.
Oosthuizen said: “It’s very emotional. It’s very emotional for the family.
“It’s also Emaan’s birthday month, so her birthday is around the corner, the 19th of September.”
Emaan was only seven years old and a Grade 1 learner when she was killed on 25 February 2020. She had been playing with other children in the cul-de-sac outside her family home in Ocean View when she was caught in gang crossfire.
Her death became one of the many heartbreaking reminders of how gang violence continues to steal childhoods in communities across Cape Town. What should have been an ordinary afternoon of play ended in tragedy, leaving her family, neighbours and school community devastated.
Six years later, the park where children continue to gather and play now carries her name. The tribute is intended to ensure that Emaan is remembered not only as a victim of violence, but as a child who belonged to the Ocean View community and whose life mattered.
At the unveiling, Hill-Lewis reflected on the long and painful journey Emaan’s family had travelled since her murder. He said walking that road with them had been “special and humbling”, and he praised the family for the strength they had shown through grief, trauma and the lengthy court proceedings that followed.
Hill-Lewis said: “You have displayed unbelievable strength.”
“Even through the midst of this unspeakable tragedy that you have suffered, you have really been an example to many others.”
Emaan’s killers, Eben Basson and Chivargo Fredericks, were convicted of her murder, four counts of attempted murder and firearm-related offences. Both men were sentenced to effective terms of 35 years’ direct imprisonment.
While the convictions brought a measure of justice, Hill-Lewis said no court outcome could ever replace what the Oosthuizen family had lost. He said the renaming of the park, too, could never compensate them for the death of their daughter.
Instead, he said, the park should stand as a living reminder that public spaces belong to children, families and residents — not to criminals or gangs.
That message carried particular weight in Ocean View, where communities have long had to contend with the devastating impact of gang violence on everyday life. Parks, streets and cul-de-sacs should be places where children can play freely, yet Emaan’s killing showed how quickly those ordinary spaces can become dangerous when violent crime takes hold.
By renaming the park after Emaan, the City of Cape Town and the community have sought to reclaim that space in her memory. The gesture places her name at the centre of a public area intended for children, play and community life — the very things her death so painfully interrupted.
Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews said the renaming was about far more than placing Emaan’s name on a plaque. He said those who gathered for the unveiling did so with “mixed emotions”, remembering a young life taken too soon while also making a collective statement that the killing of children through violence could never be accepted as normal.
His remarks reflected the mood of the day: grief, remembrance and resolve shared by Emaan’s family and the broader Ocean View community. For many present, the unveiling was not simply a civic ceremony, but a moment of public acknowledgement of a child whose death left a lasting wound.
Emaan’s story remains deeply painful because of her age and the circumstances in which she died. She was not involved in the violence that claimed her life. She was a child playing outside her home when bullets meant for others ended her life.
The court case that followed eventually secured convictions and lengthy prison sentences for the men responsible. But for Emaan’s family, justice in court could not undo the loss of birthdays, school milestones, family moments and the future she should have had.
That is why the timing of the unveiling during her birthday month was so emotional for her father and family. The approach of 19 September, Emaan’s birthday, added another layer of grief to a ceremony already filled with painful memories.
Still, the renaming offered a form of public remembrance. It ensures that children who play at the park, and residents who pass through it, will continue to see Emaan’s name and remember that her life was part of the community’s story.
Hill-Lewis said the park would now help keep Emaan’s memory alive in Ocean View, the place where she had lived and played.
“Emaan will not have passed in vain. Her memory will live on in this beautiful park, and we will see her in all of these children playing,” he said.
“May we never forget Emaan.”
For the Oosthuizen family, the pain of Emaan’s death remains. But the renaming of Libra Road Park as the Emaan Oosthuizen Memorial Park offers a permanent tribute to a little girl whose life was cut short, and a reminder that communities must continue to fight for safe spaces where children can simply be children.
