14 |^15 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.co.za
H
E REMEMBERS the day
as if it were yesterday.
It was the middle of the
night and he was fast
asleep when a noise woke
him – and in his room
was the man who had
come on to him at a party.
Olwethu Twalo had told him he wasn’t
interested and thought that would be
the end of it. Instead it was the start of
an ordeal that would leave him violated,
humiliated and traumatised.
“He broke into my room, forced me
back on my bed and began to rape me,”
Olwethu (now 29) says.
When the man was done he stole
Olwethu’s cellphone, a chain and his toi-
letry bag, and snuck out of the house.
This happened four years ago on
Christmas Eve, when family and friends
were celebrating the festive season and
enjoying the holidays. For Olwethu, it
turned into a nightmare – and he’s telling
his story now to help others who’ve sur-
vived similar trauma.
His rapist was eventually arrested and,
after a torturously drawn-out legal pro-
cess, was convicted recently and sen-
tenced to 14 years in prison.
Olwethu is relieved it’s all over and his
attacker is now behind bars.
The experience has scarred him for life,
he says, but his loved ones have helped
him to cope.
“I’m thankful for the support of my
family,” he says. “As long as they were in
my corner then nobody else’s opinion
mattered.”O
LWETHU lives in Johannes-
burg but he was in his home
village of Lower Didimana
in the Eastern Cape that
December, spending time
with his family.
Everyone in the little town knows each
other so Olwethu was familiar with the
man who would become his rapist.
“He was known for his bad ways. He
came up to me at a Christmas Eve party
and told me he liked me and wanted to
date me. But I wasn’t interested.”
The break-in and rape happened later
that night and throughout it all the abus-
er kept repeating, “I am someone who
doesn’t get arrested.”
Afterwards Olwethu was too ashamed
to tell his mom, Noxolo Vumazonke, and
gogo, Adelaide Twalo, the full story. He
just told them he’d been robbed by a bur-It tookfouryearstofinallyseehisattacker
behind bars. Now Olwethu is sharing his
story to raise awareness around
male rape victims
BY SIYABONGA DZIMBILI PICTURES: SHARON SERETLO