Arrested journalists visited drug trafficker
Sheryl Cwele was convicted in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in 2011 of using drug mules to smuggle cocaine.
The two journalists arrested at Westville Prison were visiting convicted drug trafficker Sheryl Cwele, reports the Times website.
The two Sunday Times reporters were arrested after they allegedly pretended to be Cwele’s relatives and were caught “conducting interviews with an offender”, according to a statement from the Correctional Services department.
The Times report identified the journalists as Taschica Pillay and Suthentira Govender. Sunday Times editor Phylicia Oppelt has defended the journalists and is quoted as saying:
“Our journalists are guilty of none of these breaches. They did not disguise themselves or misrepresent their identities to prison authorities, and they identified themselves as Sunday Times journalists to Cwele.”
Cwele, who is the ex-wife of former State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, was convicted in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in 2011 of using drug mules to smuggle cocaine and was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
