Six years later, the 20-year-old woman still recoils in fear when she sees someone who resembles Nkosinathi Phakathi, the man who brutally raped her.
Nor can she trust many men because she believes others, just like him, are out there, waiting to pounce.
She was just 14 when the convicted serial rapist lured her away from her family’s home in Ekurhuleni. And her life has never been the same…
The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, said the rape happened a week before schools reopened in 2016.
Phakathi had pretended to be someone who was fixing electricity around the area when he lured her to a nearby train station and raped her.
“It was on a Tuesday, around 7am, when I bumped into him at our gate. He pretended to be looking for my older sister.
“He had told my sister when he tried to rape her [earlier] that he was doing electrical stuff in the area, so when he came back, he asked my sister if she remembered him and she said yes.
“He then asked that we both follow him because he had forgotten documents from some of his colleagues. My sister asked me to go with him.
ALSO READ: Ekurhuleni serial rapist found guilty of 148 charges, sentencing postponed
“He kept taking me in different directions, pretending to be speaking to his colleagues on the phone until we ended up at the railway,” she said.
Once there, Phakathi started beating and choking her before he overpowered her and eventually raped her.
“After he finished, he just rolled over…
“I was not fully conscious but I kind of remember getting myself up and running away.
“I do not remember how I got home, but I got home…”
Serial rapist must apologise
She said she was shocked when she got to school later and everyone knew what happened to her.
“Everyone knew I was a rape victim. I just burst out in tears.
“This incident affected me a lot, especially when I went to visit my mother because I felt he wasn’t done with his job.
ALSO READ: ‘Ekurhuleni serial rapist’ pleads guilty to 148 charges
“In most cases, victims of rape do not live to tell the tale. I guess I just have to live with it.”
She said she did not believe Phakathi deserved to ever see life outside prison because of the many women he has hurt, but insisted he must apologise to his victims.
“I know it would heal a lot of them because we all have questions about what he did.”
– lungam@citizen.co.za