South Africa has once again been rocked by a revolting instance of gender-based violence. Footage of Jaco Swart violently beating his wife has gone viral on social media. The price? A R20 000 fine and five year suspended prison sentence. AfriForum says the penalty is “shockingly inappropriate” but the National Prosecution Authority (NPA) says it’s “not a bad sentence”.
According to AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, Swart pleaded guilty and admitted intent to inflict grievous bodily harm against his wife. Still, Swart will only see the inside of a cell if he re-offends, in line with his final sentence: R20 000 and a three year suspended sentence (from five years).
However, AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit spokesperson Barry Bateman says that the outcome of the case is “shockingly inappropriate”.
The court disallowed footage of Swart brutally beating his wife after the defence questioned its’s authenticity.
Bateman alleged on Twitter today that Swart abused another woman this past weekend as well. According to the post, AfriForum’s Gerrie Nel brought this to the attention of the of the prosecutor before sentencing, but “was disregarded”. Another case is said to be open.
Trigger warning: the following footage contains graphic scenes of abuse and is not for sensitive viewers:
#JacoSwart The footage the court did not get to see. For this gender-based violence, Jaco Swart was given a R20k fine and a suspended prison sentence. pic.twitter.com/VXNRmOrTVF
— Barry Bateman (@barrybateman) June 7, 2022
Bateman says that the State “rolled over and moved on” when the “prosecutor merely had to ask for the matter to postpone for a day so their expert witness could testify to the authenticity”. The victim was reportedly not asked to testify to do so.
“AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit had hoped more was done to ensure the footage was admitted to the record, to allow the magistrate to view first-hand Swart’s violent conduct directed at his wife.”
In response, NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said that it did apply to have the footage made part of the record, but the application was dismissed “because the State did not rely on one piece of evidence to prove its case”.
The NPA feels like the outcome of the trial is “not a bad sentence”.
“This is not a bad sentence, he was sentenced to a fine of R20 000 or alternatively three months in jail and a further three years’ imprisonment suspended for five years,” said Mahanjana.
“In fact this is a good sentence, what it really means is that he pays R20 000 or goes to jail for three months, and should he be found guilty of assault in five years he will go to jail for three years,” Mahanjana added.
Mahanjana stated that usually, perpetrators of GBV just get a fine. But Bateman said that the court had no appetite for justice.
On the day the trial was supposed to happen, it was struck from the roll because the magistrate was too busy. This resulted in the victim reaching out to the private prosecution unit.
However, Mahanjana said that “Immediately after the matter was struck of the roll, the senior public prosecutor, wrote to the DPP to ask for reinstatement of the matter. The DPP granted the reinstatement and asked for the matter to be tried in the regional court for expedition in of the matter in order for the victim to get justice.
“Therefore, by the time the AfriForum followed up on the case the process was already ongoing.”
With the intervention of the AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit, Swart was trialled. But was the outcome “shockingly inappropriate” or “not a bad sentence”? The victim is allegedly disappointed with the final call, but “was pleased about the guilty verdict”.
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Picture: Barry Bateman / Twitter