Cwele finds out the law has no favours
Minister of State Security Siyabonga Cwele's former wife and drug dealer Sheryl Cwele must be ruing her decision to appeal the original sentence and conviction for drug dealing she and her Nigerian accomplice Frank Nabolisa received.
Sheryl CweleHer make-believe world is in ruins
Mrs Cwele and Nabolisa were found guilty of drug-dealing and were each slapped with a12-year jail term.
They had recruited Charmaine Moss to smuggle drugs for them from Turkey, and another woman, Tessa Beetge, was required to smuggle cocaine into South Africa from Brazil.
Beetge was arrested, tried and convicted for drug trafficking and is now serving eight years in a Brazilian jail.
Mrs Cwele tried her luck with the Supreme Court of Appeals but opted to challenge only her conviction, while Nabolisa thought he would hedge his bets and tackled the sentencing as well.
It all came to a head on Monday when five Supreme Court of Appeals judges not only upheld the lower court's ruling, but also found the 12-year jail term inadequate for the kind of crime committed and increased it to 20 years.
It was encouraging that the law in this instance proved it has no favours for the powerful - for as a spouse of a cabinet minister, let alone a man in charge of state security and intelligence, Mrs Cwele must have felt a touch untouchable.
That make-believe world of hers is certainly in ruins now.
Often the fall guys in such cases are the not-so-innocent drug mules like Beetge that are left to carry the can, while the real drivers of the drug trade such as Mrs Cwele and Nabolisa come out smelling of roses.
This country is now all too familiar with stories of South Africans languishing in prisons all over the world for drug trafficking and drug dealing. Some have paid with their lives for feeding their greed in pursuit of a quick buck.
The SCA commended the courage of Beetge's mother, whose perseverance and determination culminated in the entrapment of the chief culprits - Cwele and Nabolisa - who must now pay for their crimes.
It is a happy ending, in as far as the war against drugs is concerned, that must be welcomed by all right-thinking South Africans.
The only unfortunate bit is the stigma that will remain forever a shadow of Minister Cwele.
The inference will always be drawn, fairly or otherwise, of the irony of the man supposedly in charge of intelligence in this country not knowing what his wife was up to.
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Seja-Bana
the police must hunt for this drug dealer and put her behind bars. she failed to report to jail, this simply means the police are fools, she must face the music and eat her recipe.we have heard enough of the so corrupt leaders, what example are they setting for the us. that is why we don't move forward, we are led my corrupt people.
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maneater
in Zulu we say " Isikhuni sibuye nomkhwezeli"Report Abuse
cornelius
The honourable thing for Mr Cwele to do would be to resign. Either he knew what wifey was up to or he is an incompetent fool. How can you be married to a drug kingpin and not know what she is up to ? Did they not talk about what they did during the day ? How good is he as an " intelligence expert " Please man.Report Abuse
The-Vince
@Cornelius: Aren't they divorced?Report Abuse
cornelius
@The-Vince as far as I know they divorced subsequently, but at least some of her dealings were going on when they were still together. I speak under correction though.Report Abuse
THEmadame2B-BBEE
@conelius..........chief ken jy die vrou mense, a woman can cheat on a man for 30 yrs and he would not know itReport Abuse
Bumboklaat
Eish! We have kids who look at drug dealers as role models and people who envy them because of their flashy lifestyles. We need to rectify that!Report Abuse
Dieheart
When did they get divorced? Is it prior to the discovery of her drug dealings, during it or post it? I have a cousin who left tertiary (former Wits Tech) due to drugs and was doing Civil Eng. His left brain is completely damaged! Glad that the culprits are being dealt with! I just hope that she will see her 20 years through and not 2 years!Report Abuse
MommaC
Cool photo :)Report Abuse
RobinH
No favours my foot. She was given three days to get her affairs in order before reporting. Unusual. We are given minute by minute accounts of her rehabilitation programmes but she has only served one day. Rubbish. A careful route to an easy exit is being prepared. No favours!!! Don't make me laugh.Report Abuse
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