Ten years later, the community will gather again in Lower Tokai – ribbons in hand, walking the paths she once did – to remember Franziska Blöchliger and honour her young life, lost too soon.
Cape Town, South Africa (19 February 2026) – Ten years have passed since 16-year-old Franziska Blöchliger was found murdered in the fynbos of Lower Tokai. A decade later, the memory has not faded for the community that loved that forest, nor for those who have worked tirelessly to make it safer.
On Saturday, 7 March 2026, Parkscape will host a 10-year commemorative patrol in Lower Tokai to honour Franziska’s life and to continue the call for safer public green spaces.
In an update shared this week, Parkscape reflected on that morning in March 2016, when emergency vehicles crowded the corner of Dennendal West Avenue and Orpen Road. In the shock that followed, community members made a decision that they would not retreat from the forest in fear. They would fight for its safety.
“In shock and silence we took an immediate decision, with members of the Kirstenhof Crime Watch, to reclaim the forest there and then, to walk in the eery stillness of the lingering horror that haunted our beloved forest.” Parkscapes shared.
That became the turning point. Parkscape was formed that same day, with a clear and enduring vision to create safe, biodiverse, open and shaded urban parks in the buffer zones of Table Mountain National Park, starting with Lower Tokai as a model.
Parkscape is a voluntary advocacy NPO focused on ensuring safety and protecting the urban forest, cultural landscapes and biodiversity in the wildland-urban interfaces of Table Mountain National Park.
The organisation was shaped not only by Franziska’s death, but also by years of concern about crime and fire risks in the park’s buffer zones. Their work centres on meeting people’s need for safety and recreation, while safeguarding the natural environment.
“As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of Franziska’s brutal death, we continue to work and to fight for our vision, to create a safe, shaded urban sanctuary, where every girl and woman can walk, run, ride and play safely.” the NPO shares. “We have not forgotten. And we will never forget.”
The commemorative walk will begin on Saturday, 7 March at 09:00 at the Ribbon Gate in Lower Tokai. Ribbons will be supplied before participants walk to the site of Franziska’s cross, the exact place where she was killed. From there, the group will walk the perimeter of Lower Tokai, returning through the forest to the Ribbon Gate.
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