South Africa - Rape victim, Alison Botha’s attackers parole revoked

The Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald, has revoked the parole of Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, who were convicted of the assault on Alison Botha. This decision comes after a comprehensive review and consultation of legal perspectives.

The action aligns with the Correctional Services Act, which grants the Minister the authority to annul parole for those sentenced to life imprisonment. The Minister's foremost priority is the protection and safety of the community, especially in cases involving violent offences against women and children.

Both individuals have been returned to custody and will remain incarcerated.

Alison Botha

Alison was born in Port Elizabeth on 22 September 1967. She matriculated as Head Girl of Collegiate Girls’ High School in 1985. After school, she studied for a year at the former Port Elizabeth Technikon and then began working. At the age of 21, she travelled overseas, where she stayed for four years. On returning to South Africa, she took up a job as an Insurance Broker until her life changed on the night of 18 December 1994.

On 18 December 1994, two men abducted and raped Alison in the bushes adjacent to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University’s South campus. Alison was stabbed so many times that doctors could not count her wounds, she was disembowelled, her was throat slit and she was left for dead.

But Alison miraculously survived, having crawled inch by inch from the bushes to the roadside, where she was eventually found and assisted by a passing motorist.

In July 2023, after spending 29 years in prison, Alisons attackers, Du Toit and Kruger, were released despite Alison's ongoing appeals to the parole board throughout the years.

Following this, Botha’s legal representatives, Tania Koen Attorneys, lodged an application with the courts to review the release of Du Toit and Kruger.

Minister of Correctional Services Pieter Groenewald had committed to investigating how two men, sentenced to life imprisonment, were granted their freedom.

Now, the reincarceration of Alison Botha's attackers has brought some relief while she recovers from health setbacks after a brain aneurysm.