A woman who was abducted, then raped, hacked with a panga and left for dead in 2010, has reason to smile again. Tsakani  Baloyi (40) of Njhakanjhaka village received the keys to her new six-room house from the Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi, last Friday.

While handing her the keys, Adv Ramatlhodi said giving Baloyi the house was part of the process of healing. He said the department was aware of the way she had suffered at the hands of her assailant, and this ordeal could not be reversed or forgotten. “We are giving her the house to try and help her to forget the ordeal," said Ramatlhodi.

The giving of the house was not the final chapter in this story. Ramatlhodi said they would support more efforts to assist the woman and help her recover. He said churches and social workers would also be used to counsel her.

Baloyi recounted her ordeal and said she was lucky to be alive. She recalled the traumatic incident when a local man burst into her hut and threatened her with a panga. He then dragged her into the bushes between Mahatlani and Bungeni, where he raped her. After raping her, the man hacked her with the panga and dumped her in a water-logged area.

The man, Thomas Mzamani Shirinda, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment for rape and attempted murder in 2011. He is currently serving out this sentence at the Thohoyandou (Matatshe) prison. Shirinda has applied for parole and has asked his victim for forgiveness.

When describing the attack, Baloyi said it was a miracle that she had managed to wake up. She found herself injured but did not know where she was. She later found people who called the police and an ambulance. She was taken to a hospital in Makhado and later sent to Polokwane Hospital by helicopter. She spent two months recovering from her wounds in Polokwane.

Baloyi sustained injuries to her head and cheeks and has also lost the use of her left arm. “Although he almost killed me, I am now happy that I am having a posh house, and after receiving the keys to the house today, I will sleep well,” she said.

She said she counted herself lucky because there were many poor people and people who had experienced more horrible ordeals but who were not given a house. “I think the whole thing was predestined by God. God knew everything would happen and I would smile in the end,” she said.

The idea of building a house for Baloyi started last year when she narrated her story during an offender/victim dialogue session held in Thohoyandou. The session was also attended by advocate Ramatlhodi. “I pledged to visit her and talk to her at her home. It was then that I decided to do something that would help make her forget her ordeal,” said Ramatlhodi. He said after realising that she was sharing a hut with her two adult children, he decided to do something to change her situation.

“We mobilised support and local businesses obliged,” said Ramatlhodi. The house was built by offenders as part of giving back to society. Materials came from local businesses. Before she was attacked by her assailant, she used to be doing a lot of things to help fend for her family. “I baked magwinya and fish and sold fruit to support my two children,” Baloyi explained. After she had returned from hospital, she could not do anything for herself.