Tokai Park commemorates 10th anniversary of Franziska Blochliger’s death

Family members, activists and members of the public tied ribbons to Tokai Park’s ribbon gate in honour of slain teenager Franziska Blochliger.

Ten years ago, Blochliger was just 16 when she went missing while jogging in the area, sparking a frantic community search.

Her body was later found in nearby fynbos.

ALSO READ: Community marks 10 years since murder of Franziska Blochliger

Her killer, Howard Oliver, is serving a life sentence for rape, murder and robbery.

Parkscape’s founder and organiser of Saturday’s commemorative event, Nicky Schmidt, said she had warned authorities about safety risks in the park years before the tragedy.

“I had warned SANParks in 2007 that there was a risk of an incident like this, so when it happened, I was extremely angry. You feel terrible when you’ve said, ‘I can see this thing coming,’ and then it comes… and I was shattered.”

Schmidt said Blochliger’s murder ultimately led to the founding of Parkscape – a non-profit focused on promoting safe, shaded and biodiverse public recreational spaces.

She added that the area has since become significantly safer, with daily patrols now in place.

“You want to create the awareness and just have that presence so that people are not inclined to look at the space and think, ‘okay, this is an easy target’. We’re trying to prevent this from being an easy target.”