Durban - The mother of a South African drug mule has spent the last week trying to watch the video clip of her daughter – currently serving an eight-year sentence in a Brazilian jail – that was recently featured on Carte Blanche.
A former South Coast resident, Marie Swanepoel, last saw her daughter Tessa Beetge in 2008 and is desperate to catch a short glimpse of her and hear her voice again.
Beetge is among the many South Africans serving time in Brazil’s jails for drug crimes and who have described their incarceration as “hell”.
She was arrested in 2008 at the Sao Paulo airport after 10kg of cocaine was found in her luggage.
Not eligible for parole because she was involved in a “high-profile case”, she has three more years to go to complete her sentence.
Beetge’s mother said she had not heard from Tessa in a long while.
“I did hear about the broadcast, but I wasn’t able to watch it. I do want to see her, so I will try to get on to the internet to watch the video clip,” she said. “I was told Tessa is healthy and that she is sounding very Portuguese.”
Swanepoel, who relocated to the Eastern Cape in March, battles with reception for internet connection in her area and each time she has tried to log on to the Carte Blanche website, she either loses her internet connection or the connection gets timed out.
Telephone calls to foreigners in jail were no longer allowed, said Swanepoel, adding: “I haven’t seen Tessie for such a long time.”
Daily News