Now that South African High Commissioner to Singapore Hazel Francis Ngubeni’s criminal record for drug smuggling has been exposed‚ the Department of International Relations and Cooperation is deciding how to proceed.

Spokesperson Clayson Monyela told TMG Digital on Monday‚ “The Department is attending to the matter and following due process an announcement will be made“.

The Sunday Times reported on Sunday that the diplomat spent two years in prison in the US after smuggling a bag of cocaine into that country in 1999.

She did not disclose the conviction when she was nominated for the high commissioner position in 2013‚ and the conviction was not picked up by the State Security Agency during its vetting.

Ngubeni committed the crime while working as a South African airways cabin attendant‚ the airline told the weekly newspaper.

In a separate incident in 1995‚ Ngubeni was charged with bringing 9kg of heroin into South Africa from Thailand. She was acquitted after a key witness opted not to testify.

The report said Ngubeni admitted to the arrest at OR Tambo in 1995 and that she claimed to have been implicated because she had asked a colleague to carry her bags.

In a welcome note on the high commission’s website homepage‚ Ngubeni says the commission is committed to‚ “promoting South Africa’s national interests and values‚ the African Renaissance and the creation of a better world for all“.

International relations experts told the Sunday Times that Ngubeni should be recalled if her criminal record is confirmed. — TMG Digital