'I'LL BURN DOWN THE PLAIN'

THE father of murdered Clare Swartz of Mitchells Plain is demanding justice after four of the men arrested as suspects were released.

Clare, 29, a mother of one, was stabbed multiple times and her body was found dumped at the Wolfgat Nature Reserve on Thursday, 21 August 2025.

The call for justice comes after four men arrested and charged with her murder were released on Friday at the Mitchells Plain Magistrate’s Court.

The case was provisionally withdrawn against them for further investigations, while two others remain behind bars and are expected back in the dock on 7 October 2025 as a formal identity parade has still to be conducted.

An emotional and angry Francois Swartz took to social media and his video received over 5.200 likes and over 400 comments on Facebook.

Swartz can be seen standing in the road with it being barricaded by the police as a fire was raging in the street - a fire he claims to have started.

In the video, Swartz says: “I want justice, I am Francois Swartz, the father of Clare Swartz, who was murdered four weeks ago. I want anyone to come out, I am going to set the whole Mitchells Plain on fire until the media listens.

“The killers come out and then they laugh in your face, we are going to stop them, in Khayelitsha that won’t happen. Our coloureds are weak.”

Residents told Swartz he had their support.

The State is set to prove that while Clare and her boyfriend were walking through bushes in Tafelsig, a group attacked them with a knife.

Her boyfriend, who managed to escape their attackers on that fatal evening, was also left wounded.

Previously, an online petition of more than 2 000 signatures was handed over to the state prosecutor, calling for bail to be denied.

Lynn Philipps of the Cape Flats Safety Forum (CFSF) said Clare's rights and that of her child were taken away by her killers.

Philipps together with residents have been staging protests outside the courthouse calling for justice: "The Children's Act must be looked at, these include to live free from violence and discrimination.