Two men who served life sentences for abducting, raping and stabbing their victim in the throat 30 times, nearly beheading her, have been granted parole. The story of Alison Botha, who defied all odds by miraculously surviving the ordeal in December 1994 stunned the world. She now has to face the fact that her attackers, Theuns Kruger and Frans du Toit, are free on the street.

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) announced on Tuesday July 4 that Kruger and Du Toit have been placed on parole, effective from that date. They were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Port Elizabeth High Court in August 1995.

A source close to Botha told the George Herald that Alison is ‘scared and overwhelmed’. She says Alison was advised a little over a week ago that Du Toit’s parole had been granted.

Botha approached an attorney Tania Koen who, on a pro bono basis, has been trying to obtain more information and details about the grounds for his release.

It was only on Monday, when someone asked her if it was true that Kruger was also getting parole, that she heard about his release.

“So that has been a bit of a shock to Alison,” says the source.

Kruger and Du Toit abducted Botha (then aged 26) in Noordhoek near Ghqeberha, raped her, stabbed her 30 times in the stomach and slit her throat multiple times, nearly beheading her. They left her for dead, but she managed to scribble their names in the sand before crawling to the side of the road where a passer-by picked her up and took her to hospital.

In 2015 when parole for the two perpetrators was being considered, Botha told the media that she was petrified that her attackers would want to take revenge. A petition to prevent her attackers from being released, started by a supporter, had gained 16 000 signatures.

The DCS in their statement this week said the two men have served the minimum required time and had to be considered for parole placement in compliance with the Correctional Services Act.

They have been admitted into the system of community corrections and are expected to comply with specific parole conditions. They will be subjected to supervision for the rest of their natural life.

The process of granting parole starts with a case management committee. Thereafter the first consideration is conducted by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board before the profile is handed over for review by the National Council for Correctional Services, chaired by a judge of the high court and comprising other professionals such as magistrates, attorneys, clinical psychologists, social workers, criminologists, medical doctors, professors and members of the public.

They make a submission to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, the ultimate decision-maker.

“Placing a lifer back into the community has to satisfy all the structures in the parole consideration process in terms of rehabilitation and the risk involved,” said the department.

Botha wrote a book about her ordeal and recovery, ‘I have life’, and her horrific experience and amazing recovery were also related in a documentary, Alison, released in 2016.

In that same year, the film became the first South African film to be selected for the Los Angeles-based film festival, Dances with Films. In 2017, it also received the Best Documentary of the African Continent Award at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards held in Lagos.

Botha became a sought-after international motivational speaker and her story of courage and resilience has astounded people around the world.

She is mother to two sons, despite the initial prognosis after the attack that she might not be able to bear children.