Silver lining in a dark cloud

MAPITSO Tsolo believes had it not been for her husband’s incarceration in a foreign jail, her family would not have been so close and nor would she be as financially smart as she is now.

Her husband, Sello, is one of the three men who were jailed and had their passports taken by Dubai authorities. Sello was a victim of an international “investment” scam.

With the support of her children, Tsolo, who is a municipal employee in Welkom, Free State, has spent just over R250 000 in a bid to secure her husband’s release from Dubai.

Most of the family’s money went into hiring lawyers, and paying for Sello’s upkeep after his release as he was and still is being accommodated by another South African man working in Dubai.

Sello was arrested in December 2013 and released in March last year. Tsolo was ecstatic when she heard news of his release.

“I was visiting my home in Johannesburg when he called me. I dropped everything I was doing to come back to Welkom to clean the house.

“A day later he called to say he cannot come back because his passport had been confiscated. I was devastated,” Tsolo said.

Although the family has suffered a lot of emotional pain and financial loss, his wife and eldest daughter Motshewa, 31, said being without their pillar of strength was testing, but it also taught them important lessons.

“I’ve become a new person. This experience has humbled me and my family,” Tsolo said at the family’s home in Riebeeckstad.

“I used my savings and sometimes I would borrow money from my daughter so that I could send money to my husband. Sometimes [the fraudster] would call me saying he needed money for this and that.” In no time, household bills piled up.

A month after hearing of her husband’s detention, Tsolo took ill.

“I was so depressed that I booked myself into a hospital for about five days. Only my youngest child knew because she was staying with me. I couldn’t tell the others because I didn’t want to bother them.”

A determination to protect her family made Tsolo demand to be discharged.

“I counselled myself. I would stand in front of the mirror and tell God that I have to get well so I can protect my family through this. I really wanted to be healthy for their sake.”

Once she regained her strength, Tsolo put herself in debt review where she learnt that her debts totalled R1.3-million.

“That was a big wake-up call. I wasn’t aware I had so much debt. I had to humble myself and cut down on some of our luxuries. My husband’s detention was really a blessing in disguise because it taught me to pray, humble myself and not take things for granted. I’m financially smarter now than I was before.”

Motshewa, who works overseas, had to sacrifice some of her savings too.

“This tested me emotionally because people expected me to have certain things like a car because I work overseas. But they are so shocked to see me in a taxi when I’m here.”

“This experience has humbled me and my family