Pretoria GBV victim says eight-year wait for justice as case stalls

A Pretoria woman has condemned the criminal justice system after her gender-based violence (GBV) case dragged on for eight years with no trial progress, she told reporters during Women’s Month.

Victim says case has stalled despite state closing its arguments

Izette Venter said the case against her former boyfriend has been ongoing for eight years and that “nothing happens” since the state closed its arguments. She said it has been two years since the state closed its arguments and the matter has not moved forward.

Venter told reporters that items went missing from the docket, certain procedures had to be repeated and that the defence applied to have the matter struck from the roll. She said an earlier application to strike the case from the roll had been rejected the previous year but had “disappeared from the docket.”

According to Venter, the defence applied again and the application was postponed to July. In July, she said the advocate failed to appear and provided a medical certificate, and the matter was postponed to November.

Physical and emotional consequences for the victim

Venter said she was booked off from work for six weeks after the attack, underwent an eye operation and spent five days in the intensive care unit.

She said she felt abandoned by the system and by those who had made promises of help. Venter added that people who take part in GBV awareness protests are wasting their time, because “nobody cares, not the state, not the magistrate, nobody.”

Another survivor’s delayed case

Louise Wolmarans is also waiting for progress after opening a case against her ex in 2021 following an attack. Wolmarans said she had been in a “toxic relationship” from 2017 until the day of the attack and that her ex had convinced her to take out loans of R500 000 on his behalf, which he never repaid.

Wolmarans said that after the October 2021 attack she called the police and was arrested; she was released the next day and then attempted suicide. She described taking pills at her father’s grave and being found by her mother, who tracked her location and got her to hospital. Wolmarans said medical staff pumped her stomach and she was transferred to a facility for a month.

After her discharge in November 2021, Wolmarans laid charges of grievous bodily harm and attempted murder against her ex-boyfriend. She said he has only been in court twice and the case has been postponed repeatedly.

Experts warn of wider system problems

University of Limpopo criminology and criminal justice department head Prof Witness Maluleke commented on the broader context of GBV in South Africa. He said:

“Waiting for justice for seven years can’t be justified, as signs of re-victimisation become evident and it is concerning.”

Criminal law expert Cornelia van Graan warned that institutional problems hamper the delivery of justice. She said:

“Courts have serious backlogs and institutional delays and these issues severely impact the rendering of service and justice.”

What the victims say they want

Both women’s accounts highlight delays, missing docket items and repeated postponements that have prolonged their cases and deepened their distress. They described the physical and psychological toll of attacks and the knock-on effects of prolonged court processes.

As the cases continue to languish, the survivors’ stories underscore concerns raised by experts about slow, fragmented and poorly implemented responses to GBV within the justice system.