Rocco Swanepoel

Rocco Swanepoel (1974 - 2013)

Brief overview:

Rocco (38) was stabbed multiple times, in the neck and upper body, in his home in Despatch, PE, during the early hours on 28th September 2013. His wife, Jolandie (37), and their son, Iwan, witnessed the gruesome murder, and she described the attack as a “scene from a horror movie”.

She said, “I had no clue the police were there and was still inside screaming. Rocco fell face first on the ground,” Jolandie said. “Blood was coming out of his mouth, chest and neck, and I was trying to stop the blood, screaming for help. “His last words to me were ‘call 10111’. When he stopped breathing, I started hitting him to try to get his heart going. The police then took me out of the house.”

The perpetrators gained entry through a bathroom window.

Police spokesman Warrant Officer Basil Seekoei confirmed that police were in the vicinity at the time of the attack. The police managed to apprehend one of the suspects. “There was an attempted burglary nearby, which is why the police were in the area.” Seekoei said police would help to arrange trauma counselling for the family.

The suspect (30), who had been linked to numerous other robberies in the Uitenhage and Despatch areas, was due to appear in the Uitenhage Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder.

Brief overview:

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.is/DrL6c
• https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-herald-south-africa/20...
• https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-herald-south-africa/20...