CLANWILLIAM – Niklaas Meyer has been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Clanwilliam Regional Court after being found guilty of attempted murder of his wife, Louisa Meyer, whom he repeatedly stabbed with a knife during a domestic dispute.
The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) welcomed the sentence on Monday nine November 2026 and described it as an important victory in the fight against gender-based violence.
The incident occurred on 11 May 2025 at the couple's home on De Lille farm in Clanwilliam. According to testimony, Meyer was angry because he suspected his wife had been unfaithful, accused her of hiding her cellphone from him and claimed she was not listening to him.
Children testify against their father
The couple's two children, Owen Farmer and Estericia Meyer, were key witnesses in the case.
Meyer pleaded not guilty on 16 February 2026. Before the trial could begin, however, Louisa died of natural causes.
The children were initially reluctant to testify against their father because he was their only surviving parent after their mother's death.
Regional Court prosecutor Mark Taylor reminded them that their mother had explicitly requested during a consultation on 27 January 2026 that the prosecution proceed. The children then agreed to give evidence.
Owen testified that he heard screams coming from his parents' bedroom. When he entered the room, he saw his father stabbing his mother, who was lying on the floor, with a knife.
When he tried to intervene, his father turned on him. Owen ran from the house to get something with which to stop the attack.
His sister meanwhile ran into the bedroom and saw their father still pinning down their mother and attacking her with the knife. She managed to push him away, after which he dropped the knife and fled the house.
Victim required 60 stitches
Louisa was taken to hospital by the farm owner's son.
She sustained life-threatening stab wounds that required 60 stitches. One wound behind her left ear was so severe that her ear was almost severed. She also sustained stab wounds to her head and under both shoulder blades. One wound was so deep that it reached her lungs.
Meyer was later arrested in the area.
During the trial, he claimed his wife had attacked him and that he had disarmed her. His children disputed this account and maintained that their mother was unarmed and lying on the floor when he stabbed her.
The court rejected Meyer's account and found that he deliberately assaulted his wife out of jealousy and anger. The court also found that the wounds to his own arm were self-inflicted.
Life sentence Clanwilliam court: previous assault convictions
During sentencing, the court heard that Meyer had previous convictions for assault and breaching protection orders. Louisa had been the complainant in those cases.
The court agreed with the state that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances that justified a departure from the prescribed minimum sentence.
Meyer was sentenced to life imprisonment and declared unfit to possess a firearm. The court also issued a search and seizure warrant in respect of his firearms, ammunition and related documents.
NPA welcomes sentence
Advocate Adrian Mopp, Western Cape Head of Public Prosecutions, praised detective constable Edwill Ontong and the prosecution team for their work in securing the conviction and sentence.
According to Mopp, the sentence sends an unequivocal message that women are not their partners' property and that jealousy or rejection can never justify violence.
He emphasised that the NPA remains committed to rigorously prosecuting perpetrators of gender-based violence and advocating for sentences that reflect the seriousness of these crimes.
Source: National Prosecution Authority, Western Cape, nine November 2026.
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
