They found the 80-year-old had been living in a broken-down van in squalid conditions, had reportedly suffered three strokes, and had not received appropriate medical attention. The strokes had left her left arm paralysed and she was unable to speak.
According to the Newcastle Advertiser, Poynter met a man called Jacques Viljoen while he was working in New Zealand.
After Viljoen was sent back to South Africa following a drunk-driving case, Poynter sold her belongings and followed him to South Africa.
According to the Newcastillian News, Viljoen told locals they had been travelling through Newcastle four years ago when their car had broken down and they were deceived by a local mechanic. They then resorted to begging to survive, with Viljoen claiming to be her son.
Meanwhile, her family spent those four years searching for her.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking to see her living like this,” Ellor told the Newcastle Advertiser.
“We immediately contacted her son in New Zealand and asked him to email us permission to remove his mother from where she was living. Within a day we had sent the email to Colonel Youseff who permitted us to start moving with the process.”
Ellor, local safety and medical officials and Optimus Protection Services rescued Poynter. They handed her over to a doctor who provided clean clothes, nappies, a wheelchair, and a haven until she could be reunited with her family.
Her real son flew over and met Poynter in Johannesburg at the start of the month and, with help from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), she was sent back to New Zealand.
An MFAT spokesperson said consular staff from Wellington and the New Zealand High Commission in Pretoria provided support to the family.
