Delay in justice hard on victim

A woman who allegedly survived a brutal attack at the hands of her cop ex-boyfriend wants the right to justice and to heal after the case against her alleged abuser has been dragging for nearly two years and has been again postponed for further investigations.

In February 2019, Izelle Venter opened a case after she was allegedly assaulted and left for dead by her then-boyfriend.

Venter was again left grossly disappointed yesterday after her testimony was not heard in court because the case was postponed until 7 April for further investigations.

“His defence said it was his constitutional right for the case to be postponed for investigations and to get a fair trial. What about my constitutional right to justice or my right to heal?” Venter said.

She said yesterday was the first court case she attended and she brought along two bodyguards because she feared for her life.

“It took me two years to gather the courage to face him,” she said.

“Three months after the attack, I suffered from double vision. The second operation left me hospitalised for eight days.”

Venter said she was ready to tell her story in court.

“I feel like I am not getting any justice and therefore I cannot heal. I am not getting my day court,” she said.

Linette Lintvelt, a volunteer working with abused women and children, said the delay in “justice” was hard on the victim.

Lintvelt said a lot of victims put their hope on the court process to heal but were left disappointed and hurt when it dragged along.

“We encourage the victims to get counselling immediately to help them heal,” she said.

Melodie van Brakel, founder of the Cradle of Hope, a shelter for abused women and children in Krugersdorp, said she is drowning in applications to help abused women needing shelter.

“There is not a day that passes that we don’t get requests to help with abuse cases,” she said.

“The victims come to us from all over, as far as the Western and Eastern Cape.”

Van Brakel, who has been working with abused women since 2009, said a lot of women are allegedly being abused by their police partners. She noted that despite the police having so-called “support”, some tend to give themselves over to drinking and smoking.

“The cops are not coping and their partners and children suffer from it,” she warned.

Criminologist Christiaan Bezuidenhout said some officers in uniforms were more stressed, especially operational police.

“A lot of the officers drink to cope with the stress. Mix that with their mandate to arrest and you get a good tendency of abuse.”