Convicted drug dealer Sheryl Cwele.(SABC)
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Convicted drug dealer Sheryl Cwele will have to begin her jail sentence within the next few days. She is the former wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele. She will have to report to her nearest police station within 48 hours. Her sentence was increased in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein today.
Cwele was found guilty of drug trafficking. Last year, she was sentenced to seven years and nine months in jail by the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Cwele and her co-accused, Frank Nabolisa appealed their sentence but the State argued their sentence was in fact too light.
The Supreme Court of Appeal concurred and today increased it by a further eight years.
They had both pleaded not guilty to engaging drug mules Tessa Beetge and Charmaine Moss. Beete was arrested in Sao Paulo and sentenced to nearly eight years. Moss was arrested in South Africa in 2008 and later fingered Cwele. At the time of her conviction, Cwele was employed by the Hibiscus Coast Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.
She was later dismissed.
