THE Swanepoel family said, after hearing the news of Sheryl Cwele’s arrest that they are happy that things are finally being done in South Africa. “I hope that they are going to catch many more of them,” Marie Swanepoel, mother of arrested drug mule, Tessa Beetge, said to Fever on Tuesday.
Tessa Beetge (31) was arrested in Brazil on 13 June 2008 with R3 million worth of raw cocaine; however her parents Gert ‘Swanie’ and Marie Swanepoel have always maintained that she didn’t act alone. “People thought I was just talking but I only spoke on what I’ve seen and heard and what my daughter has told me,” Marie Swanepoel said. “There are still a lot of things to still come out.”
Beetge, who is a mother of two, is serving an eight-year sentence for drug smuggling in Sao Paulo prison in Brazil. “My Tessie has been in jail for 20 months already, and every day has been a struggle. But I pray for my baby every day,” she said. Marie has said that if police bring her home from Brazil, she hopes to spend a little time with her.
Marie Swanepoel is under a lot of emotional stress and has since taken a break. She is currently in Cape Town. She said that her grandchildren are doing fine, despite the stress of having their mother in jail.
HIBISCUS COAST MUNICIPAL MANAGER Sbu Mkhize has given the assurance that everything possible is being done to expedite the internal investigation into whether Director of Health and Community Services Sheryl Cwele has broken any municipal rules and regulations.
“I’m very cross and upset. Although Tessa has asked us to forgive her, I don’t need to if Sheryl is doing this to other people as well. I cry every day and all I want is my child back home,” Ms. Tessa Beetge’s distraught mother, Mrs Marie Swanepoel said this week.
THE internal investigation in connection with allegations concerning HCM Director of Health and Community Services Sheryl Cwele, is being conducted at the moment. Municipal Manager Sbu Mkhize told the Fever on Wednesday he could not say more about the matter at this stage, besides that the matter was currently being investigated. The aim of the investigation was to determine whether Ms. Cwele had violated municipal policy or internal municipal regulations.
HIBISCUS Coast Municipalities Senior Manager of Mayoralty and Communications, Mr Simon Soboyisa, says that there is nothing unusual about the Director of Health and Community services, Ms Sheryl Cwele, taking annual leave in the first or second week of December 2009 as she is to return to work on 28 January 2010.
