Two Eastern Cape women, one from Mdantsane and the other from Beachview in Port Elizabeth, are languishing in the same jail precinct for drug trafficking in Georgia in eastern Europe.
Phumla Ntshintshi and Odette White are convicted drug mules serving 15-year terms each.
Both left their children with their families. Ntshintshi left behind a now-six-year-old child who started Grade 1 in a Mdantsane school last week.
They are serving their sentences at the Rustavi Number 5 prison in the Georgian capital town of Tbilisi.
In late 2015, in separate journeys, the two left their homes for job interviews in Gauteng, but their families would later find out that they had been detained in a Georgia airport.
While the Du Toits are able to send R3,000 per month to support Odette, Phumla has only received R200 once from her struggling family.
Several South African women have been nabbed at international airports on drug trafficking charges over the years.
Locked Up director Patricia Gerber said most suspected drug mules lacked support from their families, especially those from rural areas.
Viwe Tshaka, 24, from Lusikisiki was arrested in Miami, US late in 2018.
Gerber said the Tshaka family had contacted her through a go-between, but she doesn’t have their contact details.
International relations & co-operation spokesperson Ndivhimuwo Mabaya said Tshaka was detained along with three other suspects from SA.
“We are keeping the families informed. We offer non-financial help,” he said.
Phumla’s mother, Nozizwe, told the Dispatch this week that her daughter’s detention had exacerbated her depression.
“I suffer from depression, so I was further stressed when this happened.
“She has been sentenced to 15 years [in 2015].”
Nozizwe said they had received assistance from Pretoria, whose officials advised they send R2,000 per month, but the poor family has only been able to send R200 once since 2015.
“Then I started getting calls from a woman named Lottie, in Port Elizabeth and whose daughter is also in that prison. We’ve been consoling one another and exchanging messages of support ever since.”
The family had last spoken to Phumla in December...