S. African minister’s wife gets 12 years for drug trafficking

Sheryl Cwele, the wife of South Africa’s Intelligence Minister, was sentenced to 12 years in prison yesterday for drug trafficking after being convicted of hiring young women as mules.

Mrs Cwele’s Nigerian co-accused, Frank Nabolisa, was also jailed for 12 years at the Pietermaritzburg High Court in the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Many families are affected by drugs which are brought here illegally. They suffer as a result of dealers who often initiate addiction by constant supply and thrive on that addiction,” Judge Piet Koen was quoted as saying by the Sapa news agency as he handed down the sentence.

Mrs Cwele’s husband, Intelligence Minister Siyabonga Cwele, said through his spokesman he would not comment on the matter until after the appeal. “Any comment will be premature given the fact that the matter is still subject to a court process,” said spokesman Brian Dube.

Mrs Cwele’s lawyers argued she had been manipulated by Mr Nabolisa and stressed that she did not physically handle the drugs.

Allegations of Mrs Cwele’s drug trafficking surfaced in 2009 after the arrest of Tessa Beetge, a South African woman caught in Brazil with 10 kilos of cocaine worth almost €202,000.

Ms Beetge’s parents told a South African newspaper that Mrs Cwele, a former neighbour, had arranged their daughter’s trip to Brazil after offering her a job overseas. Ms Beetge is currently serving a jail sentence in Sao Paulo.

Mrs Cwele, a municipal director of health and community services, had been out on 100,000 rand (€10,200) bail since her arrest a year ago.

Her lawyers said she met Nabolisa through an acquaintance and agreed to help him recruit two white people to work for his company.

The minister, who was appointed by President Jacob Zuma in 2009, had appeared in court during her bail hearing but was not present for the verdict or sentencing.

Opposition parties hailed the sentence and intensified calls for Mrs Cwele’s husband to resign.

“It is incomprehensible that the state security minister can have an alleged drug trafficker in his house without him being aware of it,” said African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe.