“The first thing I want to see is her beautiful smile.” These are the words of Honjiswa Mbewu, mother of drug mule Nolubabalo “Babsie” Nobanda, who left for Thailand yesterday to visit her daughter in prison.
Mbewu, 52, last saw her daughter two years ago following her arrest for smuggling 600g of cocaine in her fake dreadlocks at the airport in Bangkok.
“I’m so excited,” Mbewu said. “I’m taking her sweets, biscuits and biltong. She doesn’t like biltong, but I’m taking it to remind her of home.” Other items include underwear, toiletries, as well as books and magazines for after her exams, which she finishes next Friday. Nobanda, 25, from Grahamstown, has served two years of her 15-year sentence at Klong Prem Central Prison.
She is in the second year of her communication studies with Unisa, which also earned her a job teaching prison authorities English this year – something her mom is eager to hear about. When she is not working her job or studying, she spends much of her time with close friend from the Free State, Thando Pendu, who was arrested in 2008.
They were featured in Hazel Friedman’s latest book, Dead Cows for Piranhas, which explores the dangerous lives SA drug mules are deceived into. Friedman, accompanied by a camera crew, travelled to Thailand with Mbewu, where they are filming a documentary on the drug mules.
The Dispatch further established that Mbewu’s visit was part of the family’s efforts to obtain a royal pardon from the Thai king.
However Advocate Matthew Mpahlwa, who is representing Nobanda, could not comment, saying: “It is fitting and legitimate at this stage, as processes are at a critical stage.”
The legal team wrote a letter to President Jacob Zuma in July, calling for “urgent intervention” to ensure “better treatment” of SA prisoners in Thailand. — DDR
Drug mule’s mom to visit Thailand jail
Mbewu, 52, last saw her daughter two years ago following her arrest for smuggling 600g of cocaine in her fake dreadlocks at the airport in Bangkok.
“I’m so excited,” Mbewu said. “I’m taking her sweets, biscuits and biltong. She doesn’t like biltong, but I’m taking it to remind her of home.” Other items include underwear, toiletries, as well as books and magazines for after her exams, which she finishes next Friday. Nobanda, 25, from Grahamstown, has served two years of her 15-year sentence at Klong Prem Central Prison.
She is in the second year of her communication studies with Unisa, which also earned her a job teaching prison authorities English this year – something her mom is eager to hear about. When she is not working her job or studying, she spends much of her time with close friend from the Free State, Thando Pendu, who was arrested in 2008.
They were featured in Hazel Friedman’s latest book, Dead Cows for Piranhas, which explores the dangerous lives SA drug mules are deceived into. Friedman, accompanied by a camera crew, travelled to Thailand with Mbewu, where they are filming a documentary on the drug mules.
The Dispatch further established that Mbewu’s visit was part of the family’s efforts to obtain a royal pardon from the Thai king.
However Advocate Matthew Mpahlwa, who is representing Nobanda, could not comment, saying: “It is fitting and legitimate at this stage, as processes are at a critical stage.”
The legal team wrote a letter to President Jacob Zuma in July, calling for “urgent intervention” to ensure “better treatment” of SA prisoners in Thailand. — DDR
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