FORMER drug mule Lisa Zikalala is of the view that drug dealers are heartless people who lure desperate individuals into their illicit deals.
She said she found herself in a Thai, prison where she spent 16 years after some dealers who knew her life challenges, exploited her situation and used her as a conduit of drugs in exchange for a not-so-fat pay cheque.
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Zikalala shared this during an in-depth one-hour interview that was aired on EBIS, Echoes of the Kingdom podcast last Thursday.
With the host Sinethemba Dlamini, Zikalala shared her harrowing story of imprisonment, redemption and faith. This is nearly three decades after her arrest and life sentence in Thailand for drug trafficking.
Zikalala was arrested in 1995 in Bangkok airport after being found in possession of three kilograms of heroin, a case that made headlines in local media at the time.
Then a 40-year-old woman seeking a better life, became entangled in an international drug smuggling scheme that forever altered the course of her life.
Speaking candidly on Episode 7 of the EBIS podcast, Zikalala recounted how at 40 years she was lured into the operation under the guise of a legitimate travel and trade opportunity. She recalled that she was married with nine children.
As a high school drop-out, Zikalala worked in three firms in Matsapha before she met her husband. While married to him, she worked at his business but was never paid, so she looked for another job. Still, she said her salary was not enough to cater for all her family’s needs, challenges which she said she shared with some women from a Manzini-based salon that she usually visited.
Zikalala said it was then that one of the women proposed a travel deal to a foreign country where she was told she would be fetching shoes.
That same woman, according to Zikalala, introduced her to some Nigerians who bought her a flight ticket to Thailand to fetch the shoes.
“That was my first time on a plane and I flew for about 16 hours to my destination where I had been told someone was waiting for me,” she said.
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She said arrived in Thailand through Bangkok International Airport was smooth and she was booked into a hotel where she spent a week before her ‘shoe consignment’ was brought to her. Zikalala recalled that she got suspicious when she was given an ‘empty’ yet heavy bag to pack her belongings.
Drugs
“They had concealed the drugs, of which I wasn’t aware of at first, by sewing them into the bag. I was suspicious, but did not say anything,” she said, adding that when she was checking in her luggage at the airport, she was called aside by authorities.
“I was taken to a room and showed the white substance which i later learned was heroin. It dawned on me that I was in trouble. Otherwise, I never knew much about drugs and dealing, but I took the job with the hope of getting better pay,” she stated.
She said although she could not recall the estimated street value of the drugs, she remembered that the E7 000 she had been promised back then was way lesser than the value of the illicit substance.
For this, she said drug dealers used her desperation to lead her into the problem that wasted her years and time she could have spent with her children and family.
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Zikalala added that after her arrest and detention in the Thai prison, she met other women from African countries including South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria who were also serving time for similar offences.
“Drug dealers are cold-hearted people. Can you believe that one of the women had been sent for drugs by her boyfriend while she was pregnant? She ended up giving birth while in jail,” she said, emphasising how drug dealers were focused on their trade without considering the other person.
She stated that sometimes drug traffickers fall prey to drug dealers’ motives because of desperation, but also mentioned that shortcuts to riches were not worth it.
“If there are still citizens who are sent abroad for drugs unknowingly like me, they should be alert and not agree to be sent by anyone for anything because they might end up wasting their lives.
There is a saying that life begins at 40 but mine ended at that age,” said Zikalala.
Thanks Their Majesties for forgiving her
WHILE in Thailand, Zikalala said she sought to make amends by writing to Their Majesties King Mswati III and Indlovukazi, seeking their foreigners for the embarassment.
She thanked the king for allowing her to return to the kingdom to continue serving her time at Mawelawela Correctional Facility and for the royal pardon in 2016 that allowed her to go back to her family. Also, Zikalala said although her husband had passed on before her release, she found solace in the fact that he had communicated with her through a letter to inform her that he had forgiven her.
“I forgave myself as well,” concluded Zikalala.
‘Prince Tshekedi, 3 ambassadors helped me’
BEYOND her faith, Zikalala’s survival was boosted by crucial external support.
She recalled that the late Prince Tshekedi wrote to her asking how he could send her money while she was still in Thailand. She said this happened despite the fact that she did not personally know the prince.
“His wife’s mother was my teacher in Matsapha. He sent me money through Philippine missionaries.
The largest amount I received from him was about E7 000, for which I am grateful,” she said. Zikalala added that as a foreigner in Thailand, she did not have much visitors, only then Eswatini Ambassadors Prince David, Clifford Mamba and Mpumelelo Hlophe visited her and provided her with necessities. She also mentioned that there was also a female compatriot, Vicky Nxumalo, whom she said did not know her before she visited her. To all these people, Zikalala said she appreciated their support.
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