“He stuffed an adapter and shoe brush in my mouth to keep me shut and had his knee on my chest.”
These are the words of *Phumzile Kinana, a woman who claimed to have been raped and assaulted in 2015 by a man who was arrested after stabbing his wife in broad daylight at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s private student accommodation on Saturday.
His wife, aged 26, is a student at CPUT, while the man is a student at the University of the Western Cape. He is 30 years old.
TimesLIVE Premium has not named the man as he has not yet pleaded to the rape charge.
Kinana said a video depicting her alleged perpetrator brutally stabbing his wife over and over, brought back painful memories of how she had suffered at his hands eight years ago.
She was filled with pain and regretted not pursuing legal action against him back then.
Kinana said while she had opened a case of rape against the man in 2015 at the East London police station, she withdrew the case shortly afterwards.
Police spokesperson Col Priscilla Naidu confirmed a case was opened in August 2015.
Her attacker used to work as a nurse for Life Healthcare in Beacon Bay before he moved to Cape Town.
Kinana was a second year accounting student at Walter Sisulu University (WSU) and the accused stayed a few kilometres from her university residence.
“I met him when he was doing a political campaign on our campus. He was the leader of the UDM’s student movement, but he was no longer a student at WSU,” she said.
He had studied at WSU East London campus in 2014 and completed a certificate in versatile broadcasting.
Kinana said she spoke to the man for three months over the phone while he pursued her to become his girlfriend. On the day of the attack, Kinana said he invited her to spend time with him and his friends at one of the university residences.
“He bought alcohol and said we should all go to his place. When we walked out of the residence I told him I wanted to go back to my residence. He convinced me to go with him, saying nothing would happen because his friends would be around. It was about 5pm and it was not yet dark.”
Kinana said as they walked nearer to the accused’s apartment his friends started making excuses and went back to their own places, leaving her with him.
“He used to share an apartment with a woman, but on that day she was not home. When we arrived at his apartment, he locked the main door’s burglar gate, then opened his room.
“The moment I stepped inside his room he pushed me onto his bed and his face suddenly changed. He said: ‘I’ve asked you to visit me for a long time, but you did not want to, acting like you're a virgin,’” Kinana recounted.
She said she initially thought he was joking because he had never been violent towards her.
“I realised I was being raped when he strangled me. He stuffed my mouth with an adapter, shoe brush and anything he could find to keep me shut.
“He pressed his knee against my chest, bound my hands and used his other leg to restrain my legs. He had so much power, I could not even move. He then tore my clothes.”
She said she tried to fight but was overwhelmed and overpowered.
“I suffer from asthma and use an inhaler, I could not breathe. I begged him to stop because I was losing all physical strength.
“He dragged me to the window. Behind the flats there was a dumping site veld, he threatened to kill me saying he would dump my body in the site and no-one would find me.
“I stopped fighting, but he continued to strangle me. From there he threw me on the bed, ripped my jeans and panties and then raped me.”
Kinana said after the tragic ordeal she gathered courage and walked a couple of metres from Own Heaven apartments to Frere Hospital. It was about 7pm.
She alleged she did not receive help and was told to first report the case to the police.
Kinana then walked 1.7km from Frere Hospital back to her Alba and Bala residence with torn clothes. Kinana said she stretched her top to cover her torn jeans.
“I arrived at the res and I told my friends. They called the police for help. The police did not take long. They took me to Cecilia Makiwane Hospital [in Mdantsane] and the doctor conducted a rape examination. They took the torn panties,” she added.
The next day Kinana went to the East London Fleet Street police station to give a formal statement.
“When I went back to the res I found [him] outside waiting for me. He kept on begging me [to not pursue a case] saying he was a breadwinner for his family. He had a eight-month-old baby and was putting his sister through to school. He told me he did not know what got in to him.”
When she did not immediately withdraw the case, Kinana said her attacker’s begging changed to threats.
“He threatened me, telling me he was from Xhora and would use muti to harm me. I felt like my life was in danger, I was scared of him a lot.”
She, then 23 years old, decided to withdraw the case a month after the incident.
“At the time I was writing exams. I was traumatised and I wanted to forget everything. Police used to call me in the middle of class and there were court stuff. I was not coping with school and having to recount the ordeal every time to the police. I wanted to forget everything and I started drinking alcohol. That is why I dropped the case. I was not in a good place mentally.”
After withdrawing the case, Kinana said her attacker stopped communicating and she thought she would also forget, but flashbacks continued to haunt her. She said he was never arrested as police struggled to find him.
The accused later moved to Cape Town, and the next time she saw her attacker was in 2017.
“I lived at a university residence in Quigney and I do not know how he found me. He just showed up, asking to speak to me. I called my roommate to be present because I was still scared of him. I had not spoken with him in years. He told me he wanted to get married and wanted a wife. I told him I would never marry him. I was still scared of him.”
Kinana said she saw him a year later. This time, he was with his wife — the same woman he was filmed repeatedly stabbing at the weekend.
“He saw me on campus and asked if I could help his wife with registrations, but I refused.”
Kinana said she relived her ordeal when her friends sent her the video of him stabbing his wife.
“When I saw him stabbing that woman, my heart broke. I’ve not been OK since. It’s like he is stabbing me because I’ve seen that vicious face before.
“I felt like a failure. If I had not closed the case, he would have not hurt another woman again. He would have not raped another person. He is an animal and doesn’t deserve to live among people.”
Kinana, on Tuesday, applied to have her rape case opened. Naidu confirmed the police were assisting Kinana with reopening the case.
Kinana said she abused alcohol because she did not want to think about the rape. Drinking alcohol affected her academics and she ended up failing one module in her final year.
She did not complete her diploma in accounting and now works at a hair salon in Lusikisiki.
Meanwhile, her attacker appeared in the Bellville magistrate’s court on Monday where he was charged with the attempted murder of his wife.
It was revealed that he had stabbed her more than 20 times.
The court also heard that he had a pending rape charge against him which is due to be heard in an Eastern Cape in December.
He is scheduled to appear in the Bellville magistrate’s court for the attempted murder case later this month.
*The victim’s name has been changed to protect her identity.
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