A summons has been issued against the convicted woman beater Jaco Swart to appear in court on a new charge of assault with intent to seriously injure.
Swart must appear in court on August 14 for the alleged assault of a policewoman. AfriForum’s private prosecution unit represents the woman in the case.
However, according to Barry Bateman, spokesman for the unit, it is unlikely that Swart will be in court, because after almost a year he still cannot be located and the summons cannot therefore be served on him.
“The police recently tried to serve a summons on Swart in connection with a fraud case registered in Sinoville in Pretoria, but could not locate him,” says Bateman.
The unit has learned from a reliable source that Swart has left South Africa and is now living in the United Kingdom (UK), where he is said to be working illegally.
“The unit’s own investigation and geo-location of photos Swart recently posted on social media further indicates that he is in the UK.”
According to Bateman, the alleged assault took place on 13 January last year in Brackenfell, Western Cape.
“The policewoman’s neighbor called her that morning to come and help when Swart closed the security gate and stopped the neighbor from leaving her apartment. Swart was allegedly drunk after a night out and refused to leave her apartment.
“The victim put her hand through the security gate and told Swart not to close the door. Despite this and knowing that she is a police officer, he allegedly used violence and slammed her arm into the door, damaging a tendon.”
The victim called for police assistance and Swart left the property.
She then lodged a criminal complaint against Swart at the Brackenfell police station.
Adv. Nicolette Bell, director of public prosecutions in the Western Cape, issued the nolle prosequi certificate in this case on 26 May this year. In terms of applicable legislation, there is a period of three months within which private prosecution must be instituted against an accused, hence the summons that was requested and issued at the Kuils River Magistrate’s Court on 9 June this year.
Swart pleaded guilty in June last year to assaulting his wife, Nicoleen Swart. The regional court in Pretoria North imposed a fine of R20 000 on him, as well as a three-year prison sentence which was suspended for five years.
Some of the assaults on Nicoleen were caught on video, as well as an incident in which Swart attacked one of his employees, Edwin Strydom, apparently out of the blue in his car dealership in Gezina’s office while he was working on his computer.
