Family, friends and an ever increasing group of concerned supporters, of Ashley Oosthuizen (22), a young South African girl, who was imprisoned for life in a Thai jail two years ago, are appealing to the ANC government in SA to pay urgent attention to her case. Oosthuizen’s family also fear that they will now rarely be able to contact her, after she was recently moved to a new prison. Her parents have apparently last spoken with her in December last year.
Oosthuizen was arrested on October 8, 2020 on drug-related charges after receiving and signing for a parcel at her workplace, which was not addressed to Oosthuizen, but to the former owner of the “Hot in the Biscuit” restaurant in Koh Samui where she was employed as a driver. The restaurant had at the time of the incident belonged to her then boyfriend, who was known as Triss Nepps (Tristan Nettles) on social media.
Oosthuizen was arrested at the scene, convicted on charges of international drug trafficking and the death penalty was imposed. Her sentence was however commuted to life imprisonment.
She and her loved ones claim she is innocent and had no knowledge of the contents of the package, that was allegedly sent from the UK. Lizelle Martin, Ashley’s legal representative, brought an appeal in court last November that may only be heard in 18 months time.
Her previous employer and ex-boyfriend, Tristan Nettles has since admitted on various platforms, and to Lizelle Martin that he is responsible for the crime. A warrant for his arrest has been issued in Thailand, although he is believed to have already fled the country. Nepps is allegedly a habitual criminal with a long criminal record, whilst young Oosthuizen has no previous offenses and only travelled to Thailand shortly after completing her matriculation at Outeniqua High School.
Shockingly youth unemployment in South Africa is officially over 60%, which combined with the ANC regime’s racist BEE policy which excludes white South Africans from any government employment, tenders or grants, and from tertiary education, makes it not unusual that a young, inexperienced, yet desperate Ashley Oosthuizen travelled to Thailand to work and save money for further studies, and to finally secure a better life for herself.
Given the Socialist ANC government’s alignment with Socialist and Communist regimes like Cuba and China, South African passport holders also have a limited set of countries they can travel to, to look for work, so there is a fair measure of desperation amongst white South Africans abroad, colloquially known as SAFFA’s.
Ashley initially travelled to Thailand with her high school love, but after the relationship broke down, she naively started a relationship with Tristan Nettles. Several pleas have been made for her release over the past few months, which have been shared on social media, however, Martin says they received no support from the South African ANC government and embassy in Thailand, and that no SA government representative has visited or contacted Oosthuizen as yet.
The ANC’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) claimed that they are aware of Oosthuizen’s arrest in Thailand, and that the department and embassy are providing “standard assistance” to the family. DIRCO also claim that they are not in a position to interfere in any legal proceedings in another country or to intervene.
