GOOD Speech by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament
22 May 2025
*Note to editor: This speech was delivered by GOOD Secretary-General & Member of the Western Cape Parliament Brett Herron during today’s Statement to the house.
It is shocking, deeply shocking, that a City of Cape Town official can stand up and boast about a reduction in the number of gang-related gunshots in Hanover Park.
A statistic like that, stripped of context, is meaningless. A reduction in gunfire doesn’t automatically signal safety. It could just as easily mean the assailants are getting more accurate. But what makes this even more disturbing is that we are being asked to celebrate an empty number while our children are under siege.
A 9-year-old girl, in Hanover Park, was brutally assaulted and essentially held hostage by a man who was out on parole for similar crimes. A man she had helped. A man who exploited the kindness of a child.
What good is the LEAP programme, or the Western Cape’s much-touted Safety Plan, if a child can still be violated in her own neighbourhood? What kind of progress is this, when “safety” remains a distant promise, not a lived experience?
So no, we will not be silenced by statistics. We demand action. We demand reform. We demand that this tragedy marks a turning point, not just another name buried under promises.
This is not just about one man’s monstrous actions. It’s about a system that continues to fail us, a parole system with no real oversight, no real rehabilitation.
A justice system that allows vulnerable communities to be collateral damage. A government that speaks about safer streets while our children walk them in danger.
To that little girl and to every child in Hanover Park: you deserve so much better. You deserve safety. You deserve justice. You deserve leaders who care more about your future than their headlines.
Enough is enough.