Cape Town - Mitchells Plain activist Venetia Orgill is expected to return to Parliament tonight to lead a 12-hour night vigil where she would chain herself at the gates.
Orgill became famous for chaining herself outside the legislature and Parliament as a form of protest over issues such as gangsterism, gender-based violence, drug abuse and child murders.
However, she drew public attention in February 2020 when she stood in chains outside the National Assembly for 12 hours, from 3am until 3pm, before the Budget speech by (then) finance minister Tito Mboweni.
Tonight she will be joined by numerous organisations, activists, and Neighbourhood Watch members under the theme “In the dark, they rape and murder … in the dark, we will unite”.
Orgill, who said she was looking forward to the vigil and was prepared mentally, will chain herself to the National Assembly gates from 7pm tonight to 7am tomorrow.
She said the latest iteration was prompted by the recently released crime statistics which showed the ongoing rape and killing of women and children in the province in the past months.
Between July and September, 118 women were murdered, with 168 cases of attempted murder reported while reported cases of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm stood at 2 126.
The province also recorded 36 cases of domestic violence-related murders, of which 25 were women, 162 cases of rape (155 women), and 1 240 cases of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Orgill said she used the chains to express how residents and the victims of sexual violence felt and how they were chained by pain, hurt and poverty.
“I am coming out to bring a message that we can be free if we work on ourselves. We cannot expect the government to do everything for us. We need to heal. We’re all chained in our views and our mindset needs to change.
“When we heal we can combat better, we will think healthier, work harder and we will help more people and have the tools to build better nations and communities,” she said.
Anti-crime activist Roegshanda Pascoe, who would be joining Orgill, said: “The vigil for me means that we are embracing each other and holding each other’s hands because it’s not going to get better soon.
“Knowing that there are people praying with you makes it a lot easier than when you are walking the journey alone. As a people, more than ever, we must speak with one voice and stand in unity to overcome what we have to face.”