"This is not just a shock or a double shock, but shock on shock on shock."
This is how Alison Botha's lawyer Tania Koen described their reaction to the news that her two attackers, Theuns Kruger and Frans du Toit, had been released on parole.
The Gqeberha lawyer is livid.
"The department of correctional services sent Alison an e-mail 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.
It was not the last shock.
“After you informed us on Monday that there was a strong possibility that Theuns Kruger would be released as well, I phoned Kgosi Mampuru and asked to speak to the head of prison," she told TimesLIVE Premium.
"This person’s secretary promised to find out what Kruger’s status is and phone me back, which she did. She then told me that the rumour of Kruger’s release was just that — a rumour and untrue.
“I then phoned Alison to let her know and she breathed a very short-lived sigh of relief because less than a day later the department released their statement announcing that both men had been released on parole,” Koen said.
She says this was contrary to earlier promises by the department and the parole board.
“In correspondence with the two entities they promised to keep Alison in the loop with the men’s parole plans even though she chose not to take part in the victim-offender dialogue. After that the only notification was about the plans for Du Toit’s release.”
On December 18 1994 at about 3am Botha was kidnapped in her car in Port Elizabeth by Du Toit holding a knife to her throat and ordering her to drive. They stopped on their way to pick up accomplice Kruger.
The men took Botha to an isolated spot on the outskirts of the city where they raped and assaulted her.
They slashed her throat so deeply she had to hold her head on as she crawled for help. With her other hand she had to keep her organs spilling from her stomach where she had been stabbed more than 30 times.
So convinced were they that she would die, they used their real names in front of her as they left her for dead. Botha crawled to the road for help, where veterinary student Tiaan Eilerd and a friend spotted her as they drove past. Eilerd, who became a medical doctor, tried to treat some of her injuries while waiting for an ambulance.
She survived, police tracked down the men and they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995. At the time, judge Chris Jansen jailed them for life without the option of parole. That has since changed, with a new parole regime coming into effect that allows all prisoners sentenced before October 2004 to become eligible.
Now, their victim is struggling to deal with their release, according to Koen.
“Alison is scared, overwhelmed and disillusioned. She is not only scared for herself but for all women out there. She believes these two men are still a danger to society,” Koen said.
According to Koen, Botha believes her two attackers to be unrehabilitatable.
“When they kidnapped, raped, assaulted Alison and left her for dead in 1994, Kruger was already out on bail for raping a pregnant woman. So while you are facing a charge like that, you do what you did to Alison!”
She says the last time her client saw the men was at court in 1995.
“Judge Chris Jansen, who tried them, said in his judgment that these two men must never be allowed to walk the streets again. His ‘never’ turned out to be 28 years.”
Asked if Botha had a message for her millions of supporters in the country, Koen said yes:
“Alison said people must be afraid — very, very afraid.”
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said on Wednesday: “The parole placement decision was affirmed and communicated. That is what we are prepared to say at this stage.”.
When again asked if she was specifically notified about Kruger, he did not respond.
Botha has published a book, I Have a Life, about this experience. It has also been the topic of award-winning documentary Alison.
Correctional services said in a statement on Tuesday: “The department of correctional services (DCS) is able to confirm that both Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger have been placed on parole, effectively from 4 July 2023. Kruger and Du Toit were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Port Elizabeth High Court in August 1995.
“Having served the minimum required time, they had to be considered for parole placement, in compliance with the Correctional Services Act (111 of 1998) ...
“Placing a lifer back into community has to satisfy all the structures in the parole consideration process in terms of rehabilitation and the risk involved. The minister is ultimately the decision maker, as empowered by section 78 of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998.
“Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger have been admitted into the system of community corrections, whereby they are expected to comply with a specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision for the rest of their natural life.”
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