The day that Anene did not turn 18

Yesterday Corlia Olivier found herself slumped against a tombstone in Bredasdorp on the day her daughter Anene Booysen would have turned 18.

It should have been a joyous day, She would have baked the teenager's favourite cake, the family would have laughed, celebrated together. Instead, Olivier spent several hours in the Swellendam Circuit Court with Johannes Kana, the man who raped and mutilated her child so badly that even doctors who had treated her were traumatised.

Later yesterday, The Times found the mother at the modest grave. Tears rested on her lashes as she told how "raw' her pain still is, unable to dissipate.

Kana, freshly tattooed with prison-gang insignia, was convicted on Tuesday of rape and murder, his crime so barbaric it had caused an international outcry.

In February, Booysen was found with her intestines hanging between her legs, moaning in agony. She was covered in bruises, her eyes swollen shut, her pants down at her knees.

"He should apologise to me . to me," said Olivier desperately.

"But it doesn't look as if he is going to, hy voel vere (he doesn't care at all)," replied her fiancé, Jacobus Neelsen.

But a smile transformed Olivier's eyes as she thought about the orange cake she would have baked for her daughter.

"She loved that so. Even though we struggled, I always ensured that the children had a cake on their birthday. Anene was such a happy child - always joking, always poking fun at me.

"People don't know how I feel. The day I had to testify in court I couldn't speak, I couldn't deal with all those people. I just asked God to give me strength."

Olivier broke down twice in court earlier this month. From the witness stand she revealed how she had taken Booysen in, at just three years old, because her parents were alcoholics. Olivier loved her as she loved her three biological children.

"She was such a beautiful child," she said.

Yesterday, Kana was supposed to take the stand before Judge Patricia Goliath to plead for a lesser sentence.

"But overnight he had a change of heart," his lawyer, Pieter du Toit, said.

So Kana watched, without a hint of emotion, as Du Toit pleaded with the court for mercy.

Kana, he said, was a first-time offender, had a five-month-old child, was a rugby star and had not planned this crime.

In fact, Kana had confessed that he had raped Booysen - but that he had left her alive - and apologised to some people, including one of her closest friends.

Then it was the turn of state advocate Maria Marshall to address the judge.

Off the bat she called for life imprisonment.

"The community of Bredasdorp has been shaken by the gruesome act . it shocked not only the community but the country too," said Marshall.

Kana had known Booysen had a crush on him and when she was drunk that night he had taken advantage of the situation, Marshall said.

After he had raped the teenager he had had to ensure that not a trace of incriminating evidence was left.

He tore her apart and she died of her injuries hours later, Marshall said.

She stressed that the people of the Western Cape were "sick and tired" of the unrelenting violence against women and children - especially on the eve of the annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.

At the time of Booysen's death South Africa and its politicians - including Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities Lulu Xingwana - rallied behind her loved ones. Yesterday, only traumatised family and friends poured into the court.

Booysen has become yet another statistic.

"We are alone now," said Olivier. "All I am doing is working towards one goal - to buy her a tombstone. It is expensive but I will get there. I come to her grave every Sunday and ask neighbours who have beautiful gardens for flowers for the grave."

Kana will be sentenced tomorrow.