A prayer to God to receive her soul, a knife being put to her throat, and feeling petrified at the thought of not knowing whether she would survive the harrowing ordeal.
This was just some of the evidence given during the testimony of Andy Kawa, against her alleged rapist in the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday.
Kawa took the stand in the criminal case more than 14 years after she was raped along Kings Beach on 9 December 2010.
Her alleged rapist, Moses Gqesha, pleaded not guilty to raping her as well as charges of kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
It is alleged that he raped Kawa repeatedly during her sixteen hours of captivity.
Kawa testified that she was in Gqeberha after visiting a health spa in Port Alfred.
Her flight back to Johannesburg was set to depart at 5 pm.
Whilst in town, Kawa also intended to spend a few hours with her parents before her flight.
On her drive back to New Brighton from Summerstrand, Kawa decided to stop at Kings Beach to take a walk.
She followed a pathway to the shoreline and noticed a "black man" about ten minutes into her walk.
According to Kawa, the man was wearing a pink and white women's straw hat.
She described feeling uncomfortable and recalled walking faster.
When she turned to look where the man was, she saw him running towards her.
"I also started to run. All of a sudden, he grabbed me from behind by the back of my shirt."
Kawa says with a knife pointed at her chest, her alleged attacker told her not to resist or scream or he would kill her.
"I was petrified, shocked, and dumbfounded "I thought I would be killed," Kawa testified.
She told the court that her attacker took her diamond ring, phone, car keys, and sunglasses.
When a wave toppled her attacker Kawa tried to flee by biting his fingers and kicking him, but he "recovered quickly" and punched her with his fists in her face.
She was pinned down with a knife pointed at her throat.
"His eyes were violent. I prayed for God to receive my soul."
Afraid that she would die, Kawa said she obliged when her attacker forced her to accompany him with a knife.
According to her testimony, she was forced to undress and blindfolded with her shirt.
This led to repeated rapes throughout 15 to 16 hours.
As it got dark, Kawa said her rapist asked her why she was walking on the beach alone.
"I told him that I was walking alone thinking of my husband who died two weeks ago of AIDS.
"I made this story up hoping it would scare him into thinking I could infect him."
Kawa testified how a helicopter had hovered in the vicinity but then disappeared and how her attacker told her that he went to prison for killing his cheating girlfriend.
At one stage she also agreed to be his girlfriend when asked.
"I knew I had to comply to save my life," Kawa recalled.
Before the start of the trial, Gqesha pleaded guilty to one count of theft.
In this case, he stole a lawnmower in Newton Park in 2020.
It was this arrest that caused his DNA sample to be taken as part of the investigation.
The DNA sample later turned up positive with Kawa's rape kit.
The trial continues.
