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 eNews Channel Africa (eNCA) anchor Joanne Joseph took on the role of author to tell the harsh drug mule story of the former Miss SA finalist Vanessa Goosen.
Vanessa Goosen is one of the many drug mule stories that made headlines across the world. Goosen had a bright future ahead of her, having been the finalist in the Miss South Africa pagent, but it all came to a halt when she was arrested in Bangkok in Thailand for drug trafficking. Pregnant and afraid, she was sentenced to death. Although her sentence was commuted to sixteen years, she endured severe depression in confinement and experienced harsh treatment under the hands of the Thailand justice system. Fortunately, Goosen is now living freely in her home country and her new book Drug Muled, 16 Years in a Thai Prison: The Vanessa Goosen Storydetails her life as a prisoner in Thailand.
Acclaimed journalist and eNCA anchor,Joanne Joseph, who is the author of Goosen’s story says she knew from the very first time she interviewed Goosen in 2011 that her story was worth telling. Despite holding a Master’s degree in literature from Wits University, Joseph had never written a book. She was, however, experienced in writing scripts for news bulletins and also had vast experience in academic writing.
Inspired by Goosen’s heart-wrenching story, she finally took on the challenge of writer and the result is Drug Muled, 16 Years in a Thai Prison: The Vanessa Goosen Story. “There are so many interesting angles to Goosen’s story; it’s not only about a woman embroiled in a drug scandal,” she explains. “I know many people have little sympathy for drug mules, but what happens when they are innocent and happen to be pregnant too? Does that count at all? Now that’s a question we need to ask.”
In spite of her busy schedule and her roles as mother and wife, Joseph wrote the book in just two months. Joseph says that she had to re-interview Goosen because she had been interviewed for previous versions of the book with another author, which never came to fruition. The working mom wrote most of the book at night. She would come home, spend some time with her daughter, take a short nap and then write the night away. “I knew it was something I could get out within a short space of time because I work well under pressure. Working on TV and always having a deadline every half hour… two months for a book, when you put in perspective, is a long time,” she laughs.
Joseph admits that although she set a tight deadline for herself, she had to be quite sensitive in dealing with Goosen. “There were days when she just didn’t feel like talking at all because she was mentally hurt by the ordeal. She still suffers from panic attacks and anxiety, and it can prove to be too overwhelming for her to relive the experience in Thailand,” she says. Even though Goosen was intent on telling the stories of the people she met during her incarceration, Joseph reveals that she also wanted to be quite respectful to them. So they had to be quite sensitive in telling other inmates’ stories because some had lost their lives while they were behind the bars.
Goosen is one many stories of drug mules who have found themselves in drug scandals after being fooled into drug trafficking. Recently, Nolubabalo Banda also made headlines when she was caught with 600g of cocaine in her dreadlocks. Joseph believes that the drug syndicates run quite manipulative and established operations. “The people who recruit these mules are inherently very intuitive so they can build up the psychological profile of a person just by looking at them. They mostly target single women who are struggling to meet their financial commitments and they take advantage of them,” she explains. She says that many accept the offers because they are fooled into believing it’s just a once off, not knowing that it only takes one time to get locked up for life.
Through chronicling Goosen’s life, Joseph says she was shocked to discover how one unintended slip can change the entire course of one’s life. “All it takes is just one mistake to change the dynamics of your whole life,” she says. She advises that maybe as humans we need to be more conscious about the decisions we make and the impact they might have on our lives. Joseph is also quite alarmed at how easy it is for one to find themselves in the same situation as Goosen and Banda. While some may accidently find themselves in these situations, she warns everyone to stay far away from drugs. “People who had a real promise like Vanessa Goosen had their lives destroyed because of drugs. So whatever one does, they must make sure that they stay far away from drugs because their whole future might be taken away from them.”
Joseph hopes that Goosen’s book will bring awareness about the drug trafficking industry and the consequences of being aligned to the industry. She ends off saying that she also hopes that drug users might also learn a thing or two about the life of drug traffickers and how it can rob one of their future.
Drug Muled, 16 Years in a Thai Prison: The Vanessa Goosen Story is available at all good bookstores. |
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