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14 June 2019 | Story Valentino Ndaba | Photo Albert van Biljon
Alison Botha
Over and above being a survivor, Alison Botha is an inspiration.

It was an ordinary December 1994 evening in Port Elizabeth. Alison Botha parked her car in front of her home. A man ambushed her at knife point. Minutes later, she was forced into the passenger seat and the perpetrator drove off, picking his friend up on their way to the coastal bushes of the city.
 
What was supposed to be an ordinary evening turned into a horrific experience which changed Botha’s life forever. She was raped, strangled, had her throat slit and her stomach cut open. Physicians called her survival a medical miracle. The true miracle though, is how she has chosen to deal with the experience. 

Botha overcame her fear of public speaking and has become an international motivational speaker who also authored a first-person account of her ordeal and recovery in 1998, titled I Have Life.

Aluta continua against gender-based violence

As part of our university’s advocacy against gender-based violence, the Human Resources’ Division for Organisational Development and Employee Wellness hosted Botha for a motivational talk on 5 June 2019 at the Bloemfontein Campus. In telling her story, Botha stated that she still receives healing.

While welcoming guests and the speaker, Prof Prakash Naidoo, Vice-Rector: Operations touched on Project Caring which is supported by the Rectorate. “We care for you and part of that caring agenda is gender-based violence. We encourage you to speak out about this issue, don’t remain silent, someone will listen,” he advised.

From victim to victor

Botha believes that if her story serves to help someone else avoid the same situation or perhaps even survive a similar trauma, then she has served her purpose. “I now believe that the evil is far outweighed by all the good that has come out of my choice to share my story,” she said.

Much of the reason behind her strength lies in what she terms her own ABC principle which speaks to attitude, belief and choice. “We are not always going to be in control of everything that happens to us. But we always control how we respond,” said Botha. 

The story of Botha’s survival, recovery and victory proves that the human spirit cannot be crushed. There is indeed life after a near-death tragedy.

News Archive

Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme provides platform for next generation scholars
2015-12-08

Dr Rudo Ngara

“The PSP provides a platform for growth, where scholars get to interact with seniors and peers, giving much needed guidance as to where you are and what the next level of your work should be.” This is how Dr Rudo Ngara —a scholar of the Vice-Chancellor’s Prestige Scholars Programme (PSP)—describes the initiative.

For young scholars, such as Dr Ngara, it can be difficult to generate sustainable funding externally for their research. These researchers are not yet established in networks and collaborations independent of their doctoral supervisors, which makes procuring funding even more challenging. This is where the PSP makes an invaluable contribution.

Through the support of PSP, Dr Ngara was recently awarded a substantial NRF (National Research Fund) grant. Dr Ngara is currently a lecturer in the University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences on the Qwaqwa Campus. Her research is especially topical as it investigates how crops—particularly cereals—respond and adapt to a range of abiotic stress factors. These factors include drought, high salinity, and extremely high temperatures. Dr Ngara seeks to develop resilient crops that are better suited to produce under harsh environmental conditions. This research endeavour would have been far more complicated if not for the PSP.

Although the programme is not a funding agency, it does have an excellent record of support towards generating funding from outside sources such as Fulbright, the Commonwealth and, of course, the South African NRF.

 

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