Frank Nabolisa, the Nigerian national accused of working in cahoots with the wife of the state security minister, was denied bail by the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
Judge Sharmaine Balton turned down Nabolisa’s bail application, describing him as a serious flight risk.
Nabolisa was the co-accused in the drug trafficking trial of Sheryl Cwele (42) the wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
Cwele was granted bail of R100 000 on February 5.
Drug mules
The state alleged that Cwele and Nabolisa conspired to recruit two women as drug mules.
They were Charmaine Moss and Tessa Beetge, who was serving an eight-year jail sentence in São Paulo after 9,2kg of raw cocaine was found in her luggage.
Balton said she was concerned that Nabolisa had gone in and out of South Africa with fraudulently obtained documents on several occasions. He had also failed to submit his passport to the investigating officers.
Nabolisa was also likely to leave the country because the state had a strong case against him and he also faced other serious drug related charges in Johannesburg.
The fact that Nabolisa owed more than R3-million to the SA Revenue Service would also motivate him to leave the country. He would also be motivated by the sentence he might receive if found guilty, she said.
Balton said Nabolisa’s circumstances differed from those of Cwele. The court granted Cwele R100 000 bail in January because it felt she was not a flight risk and would not evade justice.
Nabolisa was likely to jeopardise the proper functioning of the justice system by evading trial, Balton said.
“He immediately left the country when he learnt about the drug trafficking investigation in the Sunday Times in March 2009. He left because of the impending criminal case against him,” she said.
Nabolisa had returned to South Africa eight months later but the movement control system did not show how he entered the country.
Balton said she was concerned that Nabolisa had not explained why he had obtained a Nigerian driver’s licence if he was serious about residing in South Africa.
‘Hit him hard’
The court heard that Nabolisa had gained South African citizenship in 2001 after he married a South African. They divorced in 2005.
Nabolisa told the court he left the country because his citizenship had been withdrawn after he failed to pay maintenance for his child.
Earlier, Nabolisa’s lawyer had asked the court to impose strict bail conditions on Nabolisa if it did not trust that he would attend court hearings.
“Make his bail high. Hit him hard where it hurts most. Or even let him stay in his place of residence and not allow him to get out,” submitted Koos van Vuuren.
He also argued that his client was unlikely to leave the country because he had two children, four properties and a wife in South Africa.
It however emerged in court that Nabolisa’s wife, only identified as Natasha, was on the run. She allegedly disappeared when she heard she was being investigated for drug related charges.
Proceedings were moved to another courtroom because the air conditioners and then an interpreter refused to continue translating from English to Ibo because he wanted to be paid in cash. The translator changed his mind after an angry state prosecutor Ian Cooks said he would not allow him to delay proceedings.
Nabolisa and Cwele’s drug trafficking trial would start on October 11 in Pietermaritzburg.
Nabolisa would appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg on April 7 to face other drug related charges. – Sapa