TRIGGER WARNING: This podcast contains a brief description of a rape.

Think back on the past 10 years.

How many weddings, graduations, baby showers and funerals have you attended?

Maybe in the last decade you've changed cities, jobs, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives?

Think about the changes brought by innovation: Instagram, Taxify and Spotify.

What about the new things you've bought?

A decade is a long time.

Now, imagine losing more than a decade.

This is what happened to Njabulo Ndlovu.

One summer evening in 2002 his life changed in ways he could not have imagined.

Njabulo was accused of rape and found guilty of a crime he did not commit.





Up to that point, everything in his life was going according to his plan.

He'd just completed his first year as a law student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and was gearing up to start his second year.

The Durban native spent the last 13 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit.

"The justice system failed him. He has to start from the beginning at the age of 35. Where does one even start?" his father, Mbuso Ndlovu, told News24.



Listen on SoundCloud here:

Njabulo Ndlovu visiting the University of KwaZulu Natal a month after his release. (Nokuthula Manyathi, News24)

Njabulo taking his first driving lesson. (Nokuthula Manyathi, News24)

Njabulo and his father Mbuso at their home in Umlazi. (Nokuthula Manyathi, News24)