[imagesource:iol]

Simone Jasmin, perhaps better known as ‘Queen of the South’, was laid to rest yesterday.

The funeral took place inside a church near her home on the Bluff, with only 100 people allowed inside, but residents lined Marine Drive as the hearse carrying her body passed by.

Several white Land Rovers followed close behind.

Jasmin’s rise to the position of alleged drug lord is the sort of thing you usually find in movie or TV scripts, and the nickname ‘Queen of the South’ actually comes from a Mexican telenovela.

You can read about that rise, and her eventual assassination last week, here.

Yesterday’s turnout perfectly illustrates the fact that, to many in the community, she was revered, respected and given hero status, paying for funerals and birthdays and providing financial assistance to those in need.

On the flip side, residents knew her presence meant that drive-by shootings and gang warfare would be an everyday part of life.

Some of those who lined the streets did so to celebrate “end of her reign as an alleged drug kingpin”.

eNCA shared some footage from the funeral procession, and also spoke with her brother, Troy, who denied that she had been involved in criminal activity prior to her death.

Jasmin was arrested in September on charges of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, and was granted bail:

[source:enca]