During Women’s Month in August I had one particularly brave woman on my mind throughout, namely Alison Botha. I feel honored to share the same last name as this remarkable woman.
For almost three decades Alison has had to live with the memories of the horrific attack on her, and now she has to live with the fact that her attackers share the same freedom as everyone else.
Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger were recently released on parole. Shockingly, when they attacked Alison, they were out on bail after raping two other victims.
On the night of December 17 in 1994, Alison was just 27 years old when her life changed forever.
She had just parked her car after a night out with friends. When she opened her car door, Frans was there. Forcing her to move over, he gets in her car and drives off.
Frans tells Alison he won’t hurt her, he just needs her car to pick up a friend. They pick up Theuns from a club and the three of them drive to a remote picnic spot. Alison starts to realise that she might be in great danger.
Both Frans and Theuns rape Alison in her car.
While putting her clothes back on, Alison hears how the men discuss whether or not to kill her. Frans instructs Alison to take her clothes off again. He gets on top of her and starts to strangle her. Alison begs for her life, Frans responds with a pathetic ‘sorry’.

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She loses consciousness and the men, uncertain if she is dead or not, start to stab her, twice, to see if she responds – she doesn’t.
They don’t stop stabbing. Theuns cuts Alison’s throat from ear to ear, and they leave her, thinking she is dead.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Alison writes the names of her attackers in the dirt next to her.
With one hand she covers her stomach with her shirt, with the other hand, she tries to close the wound in her neck.
Alison starts to crawl to the road, knowing that she needs urgent medical attention if she is going to survive.
A car stops and veterinary student Tiaan Eilerd is the first by Alison’s side.
While waiting more than an hour for the ambulance to arrive, Tiaan pleads with Alison to stay awake, he knows if she loses consciousness she might never wake up again.
Tiaan accompanies Alison to the hospital and stays with her until he knows that she will be taken care of.
(Tiaan went on to become a gynecologist and he delivered Alison’s first child. They still keep in touch after all these years.)
Not only did Alison surprise her doctors and her attackers, she also surprised the whole country and became a beacon of strength.
It is incredibly sad that she had to show her strength throughout this tragedy, but remarkably she did.

About the author: Monique Botha is a divorced mother of two and has been living on the South Coast for five years. She completed her higher certificate in criminal justice and is in her final year of completing her bachelor’s degree in criminology. She believes in lifelong learning and is proof that one is never too old to make your dreams a reality.

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