Nolubabalo Babsie Nobanda of Joza is serving the first week of her 15-year sentence in a prison in Thailand for carrying 600g of cocaine in her dreadlocked hair, but she is moving on and making plans to pursue further studies, her uncle has said.
Nolubabalo Babsie Nobanda of Joza is serving the first week of her 15-year sentence in a prison in Thailand for carrying 600g of cocaine in her dreadlocked hair, but she is moving on and making plans to pursue further studies, her uncle has said.
Meanwhile, the close friend Nobanda believes lured her into a trap has pleaded her innocence on Facebook and said Nobanda could have backed out at any time. Nobanda has said she had to go along with the drug-trafficking because she was scared for her life.
The 23-year-old former Victoria Girls' High School pupil was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined R250 000 in the Bangkok Criminal Court earlier this week. If she can't pay the fine, two years will be added to her sentence.
The sentence was lowered from 30 years and a R500 000 fine after Nobanda's six-page confession pictured a trail of lies and deception that landed her behind Thai bars. In the document, which is in the possession of Grocott's Mail, she pleaded guilty but added extenuating circumstances.
She declared that she had been misled by her long-time friend Sulezo Rwanqa, of Tantyi, who promised her a decent job selling hair chemicals. In the document Nobanda says Rwanqa told her she had a Nigerian friend in Port Elizabeth called Samuel, whose brother in Brazil, Tony, would help her.
Rwanqa promised that the two men would not only pay their airfare, but also give them pocket money for the trip. After they arrived in Brazil they had been introduced to a woman known as Hilda, who trained them how to be a drug mule. "I was shocked and afraid for my life. I realised that I had been lured into a trap," Nobanda said in her statement.
She reported that they wanted her to swallow the drugs wrapped in condoms, but she became nauseous and vomited. When she tearfully reported that she couldn't do it, the Nigerians grew angry and told her to be bold and strong like Rwanqa.
They then told her to wrap artificial dreadlocks around the packets of cocaine, which she did. The weight of the hair and drugs made her feel weak and dizzy. Unable to walk or sleep, she lived on painkillers. She learnt at the airport that she must deliver the drugs to a man named John, in Thailand.
On the successful handover, she would be paid R16 000. When immigration officials greeted her at the airport, however, she began to believe that she had been set up.
"It seemed that the immigration officers already knew that I was coming, because they went straight for me and took me to the separated room," she said. There the television cameras had already been set up.
She tried to phone Rwanqa and the Nigerian, but their cellphones were off. On Wednesday, Rwanqa updated her Facebook status to counter charges that it was she who should have been arrested. "If Nobanda hadn't want to do it she could have said no and walked away at any time," she said.
"Please stop blamin me," she pleaded, adding that she got lucky and was truly sorry that her friend had been arrested. I also lost a friend here, she said in the shorthand popular on Facebook and SMSes. She thanked those who had given her the benefit of the doubt.
Twenty-four hours after the update, there were 62 comments. After the news of the sentencing made international headlines on Monday, Nobanda's family held a news conference at their Joza home. They rallied around her and spoke positively about her future.
"There's no parent who wants to see her daughter in prison," said her mother, Honjiswa Mbewu. "I've got mixed feelings about Babsie because she is in prison," but she will come back home. She had planned to attend the trial but had to cancel due to doctors' orders. She was grateful that her daughter's sentence had been reduced to 15 years, because 30 years and the death penalty were common in Thailand.
"I cannot say that I'm happy. My child is still in a Thailand prison, but this is better than a death sentence,” Mbewu said.
South Africa does not have a prisoner exchange programme that would allow Nobanda to serve her time in a South African prison. Mbewu begged young people to learn from what happened. "The youth of today must choose the people who they associate with," she said.
Advocate Ntsikelelo Sandi, her uncle, added that Nobanda had been fortunate because earlier in the day a person had been given a life sentence at the same court. He said Nobanda had asked her family to make arrangements for her to further her studies while in prison.
"This alone shows that she regrets her failure to exercise caution, a sign of being positive about her future," he said. Sandi added that her positive attitude about her future, not withstanding what had happened, should not be destroyed.
"Destruction is precisely what a severe sentence would do to her," Sandi said. Her father, Patrick Ncepu, said: "I'm happy that we have closed the chapter now."
Unathi Mini, Nobanda's cousin, spoke on a more personal note. "I want her to know that in this family we love her and that this has happened because she was great in heart," Mini said.
Nobanda obtained her matric with university exemption at Victoria Girls' High School. She attended the University of Johannesburg in 2007, intending to do a BA in international relations, history, English and sociology. Later, she enrolled at Unisa in Economics. She worked for GM Yeko Attorneys, in Grahamstown, as a receptionist. She also worked part-time as an interpreter at the Magistrate's Court.
Sulezo Rwanqa's message: I thnk nw its tym 4 me 2 toq ppl mna i wnt 1st n left Babsie apha in SA so thn sh follwd if evr sh ddnt wnna do it sh cud hv sad no bt went any wy so we meet in Brazil thn left hr thr i gt lucky tht thy ddnt bust me so wht dd i do tht i got hr arrested so plz stop blamin me so all in al u guyz r syin it shud hv bin me tht gt arrested bt i am truly sori tht sh gt busted bt i cnt chnge th situation nw i rly hpe tht u'l 4gv me coz i also lst a frnd in hr thnx 2 al hu hv given me support n th benefit of th doubt.
