FINALLY I'M FREE

IT STARTED innocently enough, with a Bible study group, scripture readings and prayers in the suburbs of Centu­ rion.

But what Benita Botha thought was a Christian group driven by a woman with only goodness in her heart turned out to be a cult. And in the two dec­ades Benita was in its clutches she be­ came estranged from her family, went into debt to satisfy the self­proclaimed prophet’s greed and lost almost every­ thing she had.

Benita admits she was blinded to what was going on and that she would’ve done anything for Yvonne Kruger, or Moekie as she called her. In the end it was Yvonne who got rid of Benita, kicking her out of the Prophetic End Time Ministry' she’d been so devoted to. “The ironic thing is I didn’t leave volun­tarily,” she says. “When I was kicked out I cried for nights on end. I didn’t know who I was. I had no identity. I clung to every word that woman said. For 15 years I had no contact with my extended family. I was told they were demonic.”

Yvonne is dead now – she passed away recently of liver failure – and Benita has been out of the clutches of the cult for nine years. But she’s now telling her story as part of the kykNET documentary Vreemder as Fiksie (Stranger than Fiction).

She’s also pouring her heart out to YOU about her ordeal for two reasons: to close the chapter on her journey with the cult and to try to help others who might be vulnerable to manipulation from people with powerful personalities.

Emotional abuse can be just as devas­tating as physical abuse, Benita (50) says. Yet the home­maker and mom from Centurion was so beholden to her be­ loved Moekie she would’ve jumped into a fire if she’d been told to.