WATCH | ‘I felt like a zombie’: Woman shown being abused in CCTV footage speaks about horrendous ordeal

09 June 2022 - 13:47

Nicoleen Swart was violently abused by her husband Jaco Swart inside his Rite Wheels car dealership in Sinoville, north of Pretoria, in 2018.

Disturbing CCTV footage was revealed this week showing Swart punch, slap and kick Nicoleen inside his office while customers were browsing the cars for sale outside.

“Sometimes when I look at the video, I don’t even think it is me. And sometimes when I open the video then I can feel the hits that were thrown at me like it was yesterday,” said Nicoleen during a Zoom interview with TimesLIVE.

“The more that I watch it, the more I realise that I was doing the right thing, because this is not human.

“At the end I felt like a zombie, just going with the flow, just going with the hits. Just praying that I will make it through the day.”

During one of the assaults caught on camera, Swart is seen beating his wife and then switching off the lights inside the office.

“That was his technique. He will get you into the office, close the door. The office was already very dark inside, but obviously when he saw people on the floor walking around, getting busy, he switched off the main lights so no-one noticed what is happening inside.

“To be honest, I don’t even know how many times in the last three months that happened because I went to the police at that stage and they only recovered that footage but there were plenty more times when it was exactly like that,” she said.

Nicoleen went to the police bloodied and bruised on November 18 2018 after a brutal attack on her at the premises.

“I decided to go to the police because on November 15 2018 he threatened my life. He explained to me in detail how he wants to do it and how much he hates me. Then on the day of the 18th he wanted to get me back into that office. I was fearing for my life and I had to get out of there.

“The police were great, they calmed me down, took me to the hospital and rented me a guest house for the night and we opened a case against him.”

Years would pass until Monday this week, when Jaco Swart pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm in the Pretoria North magistrate's court. However, Swart and his lawyer succeeded in preventing the CCTV footage from being shown to the magistrate in the sentencing proceedings by questioning its authenticity.

“The prosecutor merely had to ask for the matter to postpone for a day so their expert witness could testify to the authenticity,” said AfriForum’s private prosecution communications official Barry Bateman.

“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.”

On Tuesday Swart was sentenced to a R20,000 fine and a three-year prison sentence suspended for five years, effectively meaning he could walk free from the case.

Nicoleen said the verdict was heartbreaking.

“It was very heartbreaking. Though the magistrate gave a whole speech about the GBV epidemic, he still only gave him a slap on the wrist.”

NPA spokesperson in the Pretoria division Lumka Mahanjana told IOL: “This is not a bad sentence. Jaco Swart was sentenced to a fine of R20,000 or alternatively three months in jail and a further three years’ imprisonment suspended for five years. In fact this is a good sentence ... should he be found guilty of assault in five years, he will go to jail for three years.”

However, social media users have urged the minister of justice Ronald Lamola to speak out against the lenient sentence for a GBV conviction.

Nicoleen says after the disappointing verdict, she has moved on with her life and is attempting to finalise her divorce from Swart.

“I’m at peace that my voice is out there and people know what happened. This is one tick off my list, the next is dealing with my divorce. I want to tell everyone else to speak up, speak up, and get out [of a violent situation]. There is a life after it.”