THE mother of a Grahamstown woman who allegedly tried to smuggle 1.5kg of cocaine into Thailand in her dreadlocks broke down in tears as she spoke yesterday of the shock at hearing her daughter had been arrested.

Hongiswa Mbewusaid she still could not believe that her church-going daughter Nolubabalo "Babsie" Nobanda had been arrested on Monday for cocaine smuggling - thousands of kilometres away from home.

"It has been killing me seeing her face on TV every 30 minutes and not being able to do anything to help her," Mbewu, 49, said.

Family members of the former Victoria Girls High School choir girl said they were under the impression the part-time Unisa student had gone to Port Elizabeth for a two-week break with a girlfriend - until she briefly called a relative to say she had been arrested in Thailand.

Nobanda's aunt and mentor, Thandiswa Mbewu, a successful Grahamstown businesswoman, said she had helped the 23-year-old set up a catering business in the City of Saints to help pay for her university studies.

Thandiswa said Nobanda and a mystery friend called Sulezi had catered a function in late November before leaving together for Port Elizabeth.

"There are a lot of unanswered questions," Thandiswa said.

"We were hoping Sulezi could give us some answers but we do not know where she is or what happened to her."

Thandiswa, who is married to Hi-Tec Security company owner Andrew Butters, said besides helping Nobanda run her catering business, she had also allowed her niece to use the company post office box, phone lines and other equipment to keep her operating costs down.

"Whenever she needed something she could ask her family, they were all there for her . that is why this is all a big shock."

Nobanda's post office worker father Patrick Ncepu said trying to come to terms with her shock arrest was "very painful".

"As a parent I would like to speak to her and encourage her to be strong," he said. "We want to show her that we love her."

A sombre mood hung over the neatly maintained suburban house yesterday, which is located in a quiet street in Joza township, Grahamstown. A procession of friends and family members stopped by to offer their condolences to the family, who are clearly regarded as pillars of the local community.

Family spokesman Advocate Ntsiki Sandi, who is Nobanda's uncle, yesterday said the ordeal had been very traumatic for everyone.

He praised the South African government and the embassy in Thailand for the "proactive" efforts to keep the family informed of developments so far from home.

"We really appreciate the way the South African authorities have been handling things," he said.

A letter from ambassador Douglas Gibson said although there was no way they would become involved with the Thai judicial process, they could however render consular advice.

While handling the case was up to Nobanda's yet-to-be-appointed Thai legal representatives, Gibson wrote that "South Africa will always make representations in the event of the death sentence being imposed".

"Although the Thai system provides for a death sentence, only two Thai citizens and no foreigners have been executed in the past 10 years despite many thousands of people having been convicted of drug offences."

He also wrote that officials had been unable to confirm Thai media reports that Nobanda had admitted her guilt and claimed to have been paid R60000 to bring the drugs into the country.

"Please, be assured that we will be kind to your family member and do whatever we can to make her feel a little better," he wrote.

Nobanda's frail 76-year-old grandmother Nomandla Mbewu, who is wheelchair-bound after losing a leg because of diabetes, said she was praying to God to bring her granddaughter home soon.

"My child must come back . I asked God I do not want to die before she does [come home]."

Nobanda was arrested at Bangkok's international airport for allegedly smuggling 1.5kg cocaine estimated to be worth R1.2-million in her dreadlocks.