By: Vuyolwethu Nzolongwane
Zizo Apleni is a self-published author, motivational speaker, and rape survivor. Apleni was raped by her father from the tender age of 7 years old up until she fell pregnant and miscarried at 13 years old.
She wrote and published her book, My Father Took Away My Innocence Purified and Sanctified at last in July 2019.
The book details her experiences and her journey to forgiveness and aims to help those with similar experiences.
Her parents were not married and in the interest of having a relationship with his daughter her father suggested that she go live with him so that she would have access to better education as she was living in a rural area at the time and her father was living in an urban area.
“Before me living with him, we had a great father-daughter relationship and I had trusted him with my whole life, so when he asked that I go live with him, there was no fear, I was just going to live with my dad,” said Apleni.
At her father’s home, she witnessed her father being physically abusive towards her stepmother who eventually left and the night that her stepmother left was the beginning of her father raping her.
At a book fair held at Harry’s Printers this past weekend, Apleni shared her story and spoke briefly about her book and her journey.
“I did not know that there was anything wrong with what my father had been doing, I thought that it was normal and that other kids were going through the same thing,” said Apleni.
Her mother found out about the rape when it was discovered that she was pregnant and when asked how she had gotten pregnant, in her naivety and after being told how a woman falls pregnant, she told her mother that her father had been the one responsible.
“The hardest part about the whole thing was the realisation that it was my father who did this to me, not that it would have been better if it were someone else,” said Apleni.
Apleni said she would like to be remembered as a woman that survived all the obstacles and challenges that were thrown at her and that she did not suffer in silence but instead she decided to use her experience to help and motivate others who are in the same position as her so that they would know that being raped is not the end of the world.
For only R250 get a copy of the book, contact 073 392 5463.