SHE was once a free-spirited woman, until two years ago when two men broke into her shack and robbed her of her dignity and sense of security.
Mpho - not her real name - admits she is now a shell of her former self.
The streets of Braamfischerville, Soweto, where she once walked without a care in the world, now represent a painful part of her life.
"That is a closed chapter for me. I won't set foot in that place ever again," she told Sowetan yesterday.
And what of Jacinto Chilenge and Felix Machava, the Mozambican men who forced their way into the shack she shared with a friend and raped them?
"Whatever. I don't feel anything. They are dogs. Did you see them in court? They don't have a conscience," she said.
The man who raped her will spend a long time behind bars.
Chilenge was given eight life terms for rape and a further 90 years. Machava also received eight life terms and 75 years for housebreaking and robbery.
Moments after Chilenge and Machava were handed one of the stiffest sentences in a long while, they brought an application for leave to appeal their conviction and sentences.
They even pleaded not guilty to all the charges during the trial.
But Mpho knows exactly what they did to her on November 17 two years ago.
"I try not to think about it. There was a time when I would not read newspapers and watch television because they would talk about rape. But I told myself that separating from the world would not help. I needed to know what was happening out there."
Mpho's horrific ordeal began at about 2am on the day in question, when Chilenge and Machava forced their way into her home.
She told the court she had been waiting inside the shack for her lift to work when she realised someone was standing behind her.
Within minutes shots rang out and Mpho was forced on to the bed.
"They took turns raping us and then asked us if we had Aids," Mpho told the Johannesburg high court two weeks ago.
On Friday she told the court she was two months pregnant when she was raped in 2009. The father of her child dumped her after the incident.
"I live for my child. When I look into her face, I ask myself how I could ever think about leaving her alone," she said.
Victim tells of a shattered life
SHE was once a free-spirited woman, until two years ago when two men broke into her shack and robbed her of her dignity and sense of security.
Mpho - not her real name - admits she is now a shell of her former self.
The streets of Braamfischerville, Soweto, where she once walked without a care in the world, now represent a painful part of her life.
"That is a closed chapter for me. I won't set foot in that place ever again," she told Sowetan yesterday.
And what of Jacinto Chilenge and Felix Machava, the Mozambican men who forced their way into the shack she shared with a friend and raped them?
"Whatever. I don't feel anything. They are dogs. Did you see them in court? They don't have a conscience," she said.
The man who raped her will spend a long time behind bars.
Chilenge was given eight life terms for rape and a further 90 years. Machava also received eight life terms and 75 years for housebreaking and robbery.
Moments after Chilenge and Machava were handed one of the stiffest sentences in a long while, they brought an application for leave to appeal their conviction and sentences.
They even pleaded not guilty to all the charges during the trial.
But Mpho knows exactly what they did to her on November 17 two years ago.
"I try not to think about it. There was a time when I would not read newspapers and watch television because they would talk about rape. But I told myself that separating from the world would not help. I needed to know what was happening out there."
Mpho's horrific ordeal began at about 2am on the day in question, when Chilenge and Machava forced their way into her home.
She told the court she had been waiting inside the shack for her lift to work when she realised someone was standing behind her.
Within minutes shots rang out and Mpho was forced on to the bed.
"They took turns raping us and then asked us if we had Aids," Mpho told the Johannesburg high court two weeks ago.
On Friday she told the court she was two months pregnant when she was raped in 2009. The father of her child dumped her after the incident.
"I live for my child. When I look into her face, I ask myself how I could ever think about leaving her alone," she said.
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