Alison Botha revisits her horror attack: ‘It’s a miracle I survived’

Alison Botha has bravely chosen to revisit her horror attack in 1994, where she was brutally raped, assaulted and left for dead, in the hopes of inspiring other women.

Her injuries were severe – the Gqeberha woman had been disembowelled and had her throat slit when she crawled for help through a remote field to a nearby road.

Shockingly, her attackers – Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger – were released on parole in 2023. A few months later, their parole was revoked by the Minister of Correctional Services, Pieter Groenewald, following public backlash.

ALISON REVISTS TRAUMATIC ATTACK

On her social media platforms, Alison Botha has posted short clips of her recounting her 1994 ordeal

Thus far, she has released two parts: one about her abduction and another about the gruesome attack.

Alison recalled her sexual assault, being strangled and blacking out, during which time she was disembowelled and had her throat slit.

“It’s a miracle I survived these injuries..I just played dead while they moved around”, she recalled.

Of her decision to speak out about the traumatic incident, Alison has shared: “I don’t want to offend anyone, but I believe we can’t always shy away from the hard topics. We can’t move away from trauma unless we look at it and see what we can learn from it and move on

She hopes her words will inspire other women

ATTACK TO STRESS-INDUCED ANEURYSM

In 2024, Alison Botha suffered a brain aneurysm, caused by the stress that her attackers, Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, had been given an early release on parole just months before, after they kidnapped, raped and left her for dead.

According to Alison’s legal advisors, she was not consulted in the parole process. Instead, she was notified of the men’s release in 2023 by telephone.

Last year, Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald revoked the parole of Alison Botha’s attackers. Both offenders have been reincarcerated and will remain in custody.

The men were sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995, a year after their brutal attack.

At the time, Pretoria High Court Judge Chris Jansen, who sentenced them, said during his judgement: “I needed to make it clear they were a threat to society and should never be released.”