Errors in transcripts of intercepted telephone calls on Tuesday halted the drug trafficking trial of Sheryl Cwele, wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele.
Mistakes were picked up in transcripts of calls intercepted by police from two cellphone numbers belonging to Cwele’s co-accused, Nigerian national Frank Nabolisa. It was not mentioned in court what was wrong with the transcripts.
Judge Piet Koene said the trial would continue in the Ramsgate High Court on March 7 and continue to March 18.
Cwele and Nabolisa appeared briefly in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. The pair allegedly conspired to recruit Tessa Beetge and Charmaine Moss as drug mules. Beetge was arrested when 10kg of cocaine was found in her luggage in Brazil in 2008. She is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence in Sao Paolo.
Both Cwele and Nabolisa pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Cwele is out on R100 000 bail and Nabolisa was denied bail. — Sapa