Gavel of justice only hammers already bruised survivors – GBV victim

Lock this scumbag up, said a victim of gender-based violence (GBV) to The Citizen.

John Schuurman, also known as Johnny Rocket, pleaded not guilty to charges of assaulting his former girlfriend and breaking her nose in January.

Schuurman appeared at the Hatfield Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Videos and photographs seen by The Citizen show what a man, allegedly Schuurman, may be capable of, with graphic detail of what looks like an assault on two different men on three separate occasions.

In one video, a man cowers before a person, alleged to be Schuurman, before he rips into the man’s hair and drags him across the floor of what looks like an office, beating him up.

WATCH: Jaco Swart gets lenient fine despite footage of brutal wife beating

Another video shows a semi-naked man, wearing what looks like a loin cloth, being kicked, beaten and threatened with a gun.

Photographs show Schuurman’s former girlfriend, Milena Hill, in hospital after the assault with a broken nose and several scratch marks and injuries on her face.

Yet another set of pictures shows another man allegedly beaten up by Schuurman.

Schuurman will go on trial in August – ironically Women’s Month.

This is the second high-profile instance of gender-based violence making headlines this year.

Recently, video footage emerged of Jaco Swart’s brutal attack on his wife and later, former colleagues testified on Carte Blanche, that he raised his hand to them, too.

The country was outraged when Swart was fined R20,000, calling it a slap on the wrist. In both instances AfriForum stepped in to assist the victims.

Its spokesperson, Barry Bateman, said: “The scourge of gender-based violence [GBV] is one of the serious issues plaguing the country.

READ MORE: GBV: Being a woman in South Africa is a struggle

“When advocate Gerrie Nel established [AfriForum’s] private prosecutions unit, one of the issues he wanted to take on was the bullies; people who used their power, whether that be financial, political and, in this case, physical, to prey on people who are weaker than them.”

The victim of gender-based violence who spoke to The Citizen did not want to be named due to fears of prejudice in her corporate job.

“She wrote a scathing open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa and said she had been to court 33 times and her abuser remained free, living the good life.

She said: “I wish my dad were still around or that I had an older brother to go and beat the living daylights out of my abuser. I wish that for every woman who cannot seem to get justice in this country.

“It is a joke, and a sick one.”

Bateman said: “We’re going into 16 days of activism shortly. “It is a waste of time because on the ground we are not seeing the impact of whatever these commitments might be that you hear from government.

“A prime example was Ms Hill. All she knew was that the matter was set down for plea and trial, but she had no prior communication with the prosecutor, not even on the day.

“No communication, no indication of what she may expect, no briefing, no consultation to go through her statement with her.”

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The victim referred to police stations and courtrooms plastered with posters sharing advice, platitudes and contact numbers for victims of GBV.

But, she said, nothing gets done and alleges that perpetrators have some sort of influence over prosecutors and magistrates for gentler treatment.

“The bench’s gavel of justice only hammers survivors’ already bruised bodies and spirits. The current status quo makes finding justice near impossible.”

Bateman said AfriForum believed Ramaphosa’s hard line against GBV was lip service.

“We do not think that there is any real commitment from the government to deal with … this particular scourge.”