Ex-convict encourages youth

“I made the decision to never give up on life,” were the words of Goosen, who is also a former Miss SA semi-finalist.

The Honeydew resident spent 16 years, six months and 16 days in the Lard Yao women’s prison since 1994 after being accused of trying to smuggle 2.7kg of heroin through customs at the Bangkok International Airport.

“My then boyfriend and I owned a clothing store in Carlton Centre and I always admired the style of clothes his friend wore,” Goosen said.

The friend told Goosen his clothes were imported from Thailand, so she decided to visit the country to buy material.

Life seemed great for the then 21-year-old who was three months pregnant, traveling to Thailand and co-owned a clothing store.

However, everything changed in an instant.

“The friend asked me to collect four of his engineering books from his brother, so I did and when I reached customs at the airport, the staff stripped the books and found heroin,” she said.

“I did not speak Thai and they did not speak English so nobody could understand me when I was trying to tell them I had no idea about the drugs being in the books.

“But one staff member showed me a poster and it said the consequence of being caught with heroin is the death penalty and I freaked out because I was not ready to die.”

Goosen who was arrested in April was taken to the Lard Yao women’s prison after the court’s verdict.

However, her penalty was commuted from death to life in prison after her daughter was born.

“My daughter, Felicia, was born at the prison hospital in October 1994 and it was not easy because I had medical students who used me as their experiment to deliver a baby,” Goosen said.

“We slept on the floor by the toilets because we had to be at the prison for 20 years before earning a bed to sleep on.

“But shortly after Felicia was born, all of the beds were removed because of space in the room.”

Felicia lived under the harsh conditions of having limited running water, fighting for food and sleeping on the floor in a 18-inch-wide sleeping space with her mother for almost three years before the policies changed and she had to move to South Africa.

“My friend, Melanie Holmes, and her family took care of Felicia in South Africa,” Goosen said.

“Letting my little girl go was a very hard thing to do.”

While in prison, Goosen, who was a Muslim, met another inmate who told her about Jesus and until today she believes that he was her strength through the years.

After being in prison for five years, Goosen wrote to the king asking for a royal pardon which got rejected three years later.

“My heart was filled with hate and I eventually did not care if I died because the anger consumed me and made me physically sick,” Goosen said.

“I spent eight years in prison for a crime I did not knowingly commit.

“My daughter was taken from me, my grandfather read about my story in a magazine, had a heart attack and died, and my mother, Minah Goosen, grew very sick.”

But, an inmate in the prison approached Goosen and told her to forgive the wrongs that were done to her and to focus on trying to be pardoned for the sake of Felicia.

“That was when I decided not to give up on life again,” Goosen said.

“The king eventually pardoned me and I was released on October 30, 2010, a day before Felicia’s 16th birthday.

“It was still hard because shortly before my release, Melanie died.”

But Goosen kept to her decision to never give up and today she travels the world to tell people about her story.

Also read: Kids Haven hopes to expand

Follow us on these platforms:

Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.

For news straight to your phone invite us:

WhatsApp: 079 431 2006
Instagram: benonicitytimes.co.za