An accused wife abuser who is alleged to have violently attacked his wife on their ninth wedding anniversary, and faces possible life imprisonment, will remain behind bars after his second attempt for bail was denied by the Western Cape High Court.

The 37-year-old father of four was a fisherman in Mossel Bay up until his incarceration in May last year and faces a charge of attempted murder. He sought to appeal against his bail application, which was heard and denied in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court.

The lower court found that the man would endanger the life of the complainant, and it was not in the interests of justice to have him released.

According to court documents, on May 18, last year, the couple had celebrated their anniversary, but the occasion turned sombre when the man accused his wife of infidelity and began beating her with his fists. This was then followed by him telling his wife to undress, and after she fell to the ground, he proceeded to hit her multiple times with a hammer all over her body.

The attack resulted in her arm being broken. The woman sought help from neighbours, and her husband was then arrested and charged a few days later, on May 22, last year.

During his second bail hearing, the man, adamant that he could only afford R300 bail, denied the charges against him and claimed that he caught his wife in bed with another person. 

The man is expected to go on trial on November 7.

The court documents read: “The State led evidence that the appellant had assaulted the complainant, including by striking her with a hammer so hard that her arm was broken. The medical evidence suggested that the injuries were life-threatening, and photographs put up by the State revealed severe harm to the complainant’s face and body. 

“Not only this, but evidence was led to show that he had previously assaulted the complainant, and that the complainant had been raped by the appellant’s brother in the presence of the appellant and thereafter he had asked the complainant to withdraw charges against his brother. The State also adduced evidence that the complainant is very afraid of the appellant.”

In arriving at his decision, Judge Darryl Cooke at the high court said that while he considered the possibility of imposing bail conditions, he was not convinced that this would sufficiently reduce the risk of harm to the complainant. This was also weighed against the man’s disposition to violence, as is evident from his past conduct, and the prevalence of gender-based violence in South Africa.

Chief Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council, Professor Naeemah Abrahams, cited statistics that in South Africa, since 2009, three women are killed by an intimate partner per day.

Commenting on gender-based violence and reforms needed, Professor Amanda Gouws previously said South Africa had one of the best national gender machineries globally, but this has since been crippled, and there is currently no coherent, active women’s or feminist movement. 

“Activism now takes the form of sporadic issue-driven action, such as the campaigns by #TotalShutDown and #EndRapeCulture. While this type of activism is laudable, it does not sustain pressure on the government for action.

“There is thus no simple suggestion for how to reduce gender-based violence. All interventions are contextual and political and need to address different dimensions of a multi-dimensional problem,” Professor Gouws had said. 

chevon.booysen@inl.co.za

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