More than four decades after the killing of 18-year-old Clive Cupido, the Bellville South community is urging the City of Cape Town to rename Eendrag Park in his memory, a move his family says would restore dignity to a life that mattered deeply and was unjustly taken.
Cupido was in matric and eagerly planning to join the navy the following year, hoping to serve both his community and his country. Instead, his life was cut short by apartheid security forces, one of thousands of young South Africans who never lived to see democracy.
Now, 41 years later, the Bellville South community has formally submitted a proposal to rename Eendrag Park as Clive Cupido Memorial Park, in recognition of the teenager who was born and raised in the area.
‘He should still be here’
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Cupido’s sister Michelle Hansby said she wants her brother to be remembered not only as a victim of apartheid violence but as a full human being whose life had meaning.
“I would like Clive to be remembered with dignity, not just as someone who died during the apartheid era, but as a human being whose life had value,” Hansby said.
“His memory represents both personal loss and the broader injustice experienced by so many families during that time. I want people to remember Clive as someone who should still be here. He was cherished, and his absence is still felt.”
She described him as a gentle, loving and shy young man with hopes and dreams.
“He mattered deeply to his family and community,” she said.
Hansby said her brother’s death had a devastating and lifelong impact on her family, altering the course of all their lives.
“As the youngest, I was forced to step into responsibilities far beyond my age to support my parents. The loss fractured our family emotionally and practically,” she said.
She said the trauma took a severe toll on her parents’ relationship and health, leaving her to shoulder caregiving responsibilities within the household for many years.
“By the time my father returned years later, I had already been carrying the weight of loss and responsibility alone. I eventually had to seek professional help to cope with the long-term effects of grief,” she said.
The renaming is an important step, not an endpoint.
— Michelle Hansby, Cupido’s sister,
She said her life was never the same after losing her brother.
“His death not only took him from us, but it also altered the course of my family’s life and my own future in ways that are still felt today,” she said.
Hansby is now the only surviving member of her immediate family.
“I wish my parents were alive to witness this moment. Maybe it could have brought them some sense of acknowledgement,” she said.
Community-led call for recognition
The application to rename the park was submitted by Bellville Historical Society researcher Jason Patrick Hanslo, acting on behalf of the community.
According to the submission, renaming the park would recognise Cupido’s life and legacy as a promising youth who attended local schools, participated in community sports and was well regarded in Bellville South.
“His death had a profound emotional impact on the community,” Hanslo wrote. “Renaming Eendrag Park in his honour would serve as a symbolic gesture of remembrance and acknowledgement of the historical experiences of the Bellville South community during the apartheid era.”
The submission notes that the renaming would help acknowledge past injustices, reflect the area’s resilience and social history, and support ongoing processes of healing, reconciliation and community identity-building.
‘An important step, not closure’
Hansby said while the renaming would not undo the harm caused by her brother’s killing, it would be a meaningful act of public recognition.
“The renaming is an important step, not an endpoint,” she said. “It does not bring full closure; the loss and its consequences are lifelong. But it offers a measure of healing through remembrance and acknowledgement.”
Local resident Hilda Cupido agreed, saying the change would be deeply meaningful.
“He was just a teenager at the wrong place at the wrong time. He did not deserve to die like that,” she said. “Renaming the park would bring healing.”
Cost and council process
The proposal notes that three new signboards would be required at the park, at an estimated cost of R190 each.
Community members argue that the renaming aligns with the City of Cape Town’s commitment to transforming public spaces to reflect the diversity and complexity of the city’s history and heritage.
About 481 residents have signed a petition supporting the renaming. The matter is currently under consideration by the City of Cape Town council.
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