WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Alison Botha’s story is one of sheer survival against the most horrific odds. At 27 years old, Alison faced a nightmare when she was kidnapped and endured a savage gang rape. During the ordeal, she was disemboweled, forced to hold her own intestines while her head hung semi-decapitated, "flopped backwards and almost rested between [her] shoulder blades".
According to reports from the Daily Star, Alison was a beacon of "utmost positivity and sound moral values", as described by her school where she was head girl in 1985. Working as an insurance broker, her life took a dark turn on December 18, 1994, after spending the evening with mates.
She returned home, parked her car, and in that moment of routine, didn’t notice the danger lurking. As she reached for her laundry on the passenger seat, a blonde man barged into her car. It was Frans DuToit, a police officer’s son, who chillingly threatened her life but claimed he just needed the car for an hour, reports the Daily Star.
Alison recalled feeling "strangely immobilised" as Du Toit ominously identified her home address, making it sound more like a threat than a mere statement. In a desperate attempt to connect with her kidnapper, Alison tried to negotiate, offering her car in exchange for freedom. But Du Toit coldly refused, insisting he "wanted company", as reported by the Daily Star.
The Daily Star reported that after driving a distance from the town, Du Toit circled a crowd of people on the street twice, searching for one face – Theuns Krugeras. The short man, clad in black, approached the driver’s side and hopped into the car. Du Toit, who had introduced himself under the pseudonym "Clinton", adjusted the driver’s seat forward as Krugeras climbed in.
He then introduced Alison, who was also using an alias, as "meet my friend Susan". They drove towards a suburb outside Port Elizabeth in eerie silence until Du Toit broke it with: "Theuns doesn’t speak good English." Approaching a wooded area, Du Toit slowed down and parked on the sand. Krugeras exited the vehicle and Clinton proceeded to rape Alison.
The Daily Star stated that Krugeras began to assault her too but abruptly stopped, exclaiming "no I can’t do this" before accidentally shouting "Frans" at his accomplice. Alison remembered this name. Frans then warned Alison: "If we take you into town now you’ll go to the police". Du Toit followed up with: "what do you think Oom Nick would want us to do with her."
Oom Nick is an Afrikaans reference to Satan. Krugeras responded: " I think he wants us to kill her." The duo forced Alison to remove her rings and clothes before Du Toit strangled her until she passed out, apologising as he did so. Alison regained consciousness surrounded by rubbish, witnessing a man’s arm slashing in front of her face.
She then made the horrifying realisation that he was slitting her throat. She recounted feeling able to "could hear the flesh slit."After the horrific attack, it was discovered that the assailants had slashed at her throat 16 times; Alison was almost decapitated.
The Daily Star revealed that Alison miraculously survived and has gone on to have two children. She described her terror: "I tried to hold my breath but I realised I had no control over my breathing – I moved my hand up to cover my neck – my whole hand disappeared into it, but it seemed to have worked – the sound was silenced."
Playing dead then became her survival strategy. One of the attackers questioned if she was deceased, the other assured "no one can survive that". But Alison was resolute in her will for justice—scrawling down their names in the sand with a poignant addition, "I love mom."
As she reflected on the sensation of her wounds, she said: "It was as if I’d cut moorings. As I hovered there I recognised the person down below – I knew it was me and I felt such a strong connection to that bleeding mangled girl lying on her stomach."
The Daily Star reported that later, spotting a hint of lights, she realized proximity to the road. With a monumental effort, she raised herself to her knees, and reaching to her abdomen, she felt something "tepid, wet and slimy".
A ghastly sight met her eyes—her intestines were spilling out from her stomach. She described the terrifying ordeal, saying: "It was horrifying there was just so much of me on the outside. I tried to scoop it all up with my hands but everything just slithered away again."
Alison had been stabbed in the abdomen over 50 times. She used a shirt to hold her intestines in place, while debris and shattered glass cut into her hands and knees. Half of her thyroid was protruding from her neck.
The Daily Star stated that she revealed that at this point, she realised the trail of blood she was leaving behind would devastate her loved ones if they found out about the pain she endured in her final moments.
Tiaan Eilerd, a vet who was out with his friends at a pub, stumbled upon Alison in a dire state. He quickly checked her vitals and managed to tuck her thyroid back into her throat – a move that saved her life. Alison later hailed him as her "lifeline". Tiaan was gobsmacked that she was still breathing, saying she resembled a "creature straight out of a Dickens novel" with a neck wound stretching "almost ear to ear".
The Daily Star reported that without Tiaan’s quick thinking, she wouldn’t have made it. Alison’s guts had been stabbed multiple times, and her belly muscles were shot. She recalled one attacker’s chilling intent to destroy her reproductive organs.
Against all odds, she defied their gruesome goal and later gave birth to two kids. After enduring hours under the knife, Alison was wheeled into ICU. As word of her ordeal spread, coppers learned the culprits were already on bail for rape.
The pair, self-proclaimed Satanists, fessed up to kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. One of them, Du Toit, confessed to raping another woman but didn’t feel the "urge to killer her had passed" post-assault. In 1995, they were both jailed for life with no chance of parole.
The Daily Star stated that when whispers of legal changes surfaced in 2012, Alison voiced her horror: "Can you imagine if just 100 lifers were reintroduced to society without rehabilitation." She fought tooth and nail, ensuring those monsters stayed locked up.
However, on 4 July 2023, Du Toit and Krugeras walked free after serving just 28 years of their life sentences, leaving Alison Botha in the dark about their parole. Alison expressed her dismay on Facebook, saying: "The day I hoped and prayed would never come. When I was asked ‘How will you feel if they ever get parole?’ – my immediate answer was always – ‘I’m hoping I’ll never find out’."
Alison According to the Daily Star, has been vocal about her brutal ordeal through her book "I Have Life" and now a film titled "Alison," which hit the screens in August. She recounts her tale of monstrous assault, miraculous survival, and the path to reclaiming her life, inspiring countless individuals by highlighting how mindset, belief, and choice played a crucial role in her perseverance.
Her bravery didn’t go unnoticed as she garnered the revered Rotarian Paul Harris Award for ‘Courage Beyond the Norm’. In that year, Femina magazine honoured her with its inaugural ‘Woman of Courage’ distinction while also being recognized as Port Elizabeth’s Citizen of the Year.
With the release of "Alison", she expressed her aspirations, remarking: "’I have always hoped that by sharing my own journey with others, it would give them hope and courage for their own. To have my story and ultimate triumph shared on screen, would mean that so many more people would see the power of choice that we each have; and might also choose to triumph over life’s hardships".
Aside from her professional commitments, Alison asserts that her most significant role is being a single mother to her two sons. In recognition of her unwavering dedication to empowering others to rise above their situations, conquer life’s challenges and remain resilient in the face of adversity, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is proud to bestow upon Alison Botha the Council Prestige Award.
