Cape Town — Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald, has been praised for his decision to cancel the parole of Alison Botha’s attackers.
In a statement, Groenewald said the decision to cancel the parole of Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, Botha’s convicted attackers, comes after a long evaluation and consultations with legal opinions.
“This decision was made in accordance with the Correctional Services Act, which empowers the Minister to cancel parole for individuals sentenced to life imprisonment,” the department said.
The department said Groenewald’s primary consideration was the imperative to protect and secure the community in instances where acts of violence against women and children have been committed.
“Both individuals have been reincarcerated and will remain in custody,” Groenewald said.
JUST IN:
Minister of Correctional Services, Dr Pieter Groenewald, has cancelled parole for Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, the convicted attackers of Alison Botha.
Full statement: pic.twitter.com/EUTR1DPosG— Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) February 4, 2025
According to TimesLIVE, Du Toit and Kruger were sentenced to life in prison in 1995 after Judge Chris Jansen deemed them a threat to society and that they should not be released.
In July 2023, the two were released on parole and the department said a vigorous process was undertaken with experts, and with the assurance that they would supervised for the rest of their lives.
Botha, however, responded by becoming a recluse who lived in fear, her friends said.
Botha was attacked by the two men in Gweberha in December 1994. She was ambushed outside her apartment block and was made to drive to an isolated area where she was raped beaten and stabbed.
Her throat had been slashed and her organs were spilling out of her stomach in a gruesome attack. She has shared the details of her ordeal and miraculous survival in a book titled I Have Life and became a motivational speaker.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
