Alison Botha shocked at the news her attacker will be released on parole

Alison Botha was viciously attacked by Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger in 1994. The men kidnapped her in the early hours of the morning before raping her and attempted to stab her to death.

The men were caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, on Tuesday they were released from prison on parole after serving 28 years behind bars. This has stoked anger and frustration with some people.

Misa, the Motor Industry Staff Association, who Botha has acted for as a motivational speaker, said they were “disgusted and furious with the decision to grant parole to the pair responsible for the attack on Allison Botha, one of the most horrific crimes in South African history”.

“We live in a country where gender-based violence is referred to as a pandemic. Police Minister Bheki Cele admitted that we had lost the war when nearly 1,000 women were murdered and more than 1,500 others assaulted from January to March this year,” says Martlé Keyter, Misa’s CEO.

Botha's lawyer, Tania Koen, was also livid. “This is not just a shock or a double shock, but shock on shock on shock.

“The department of correctional services sent Alison an email on June 23 saying, ‘From July 4 Mr du Toit will be on a three-month day parole after which he will be released under normal parole conditions and will form part of the social interaction system in Bloemfontein.’ This was a terrible shock to her,” Koen told TimesLIVE Premium on Wednesday. 

Botha's survival story was told in a best-selling book called I have life.