File photo: Convicted and jailed for drug dealing, Sheryl Cwele (pictured) must now answer to claims of unprofessional conduct as a nurse.
Durban – Convicted and jailed for drug dealing, Sheryl Cwele could also be barred from practising as a nurse by the SA Nursing Council.
Cwele, who has an honours degree in nursing, was sent to Westville prison earlier this month after the Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed her appeal against her conviction. The appeal by her co-accused, Frank Nabolisa, was also dismissed.
Judge President Lex Mpati, who upped their sentences from 12 to 20 years, said in his judgment that Cwele, as a qualified nurse, “must have known about the dangers inherent in the use of drugs” but had continued to be a willing partner in the crime.
The two were convicted last year by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koen, who found they had recruited two women, Tessa Beetge and Charmaine Moss, to smuggle cocaine into SA.
Moss had testified that she had been approached by Cwele, who was the head of health at the Hibiscus Coast municipality at the time, about a “job opportunity”, but turned it down. Beetge, 35, accepted Cwele’s offer and was arrested in Brazil in possession of 10kg of cocaine. She is serving an eight-year prison sentence.
State advocate Ian Cooke, who prosecuted the case, has sent notice of the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling to the SA Nursing Council for it to make a “value judgement” about whether Cwele should remain on the registry of nurses and midwives.
Frans Nkosi, of the Nursing Council, confirmed that it had received a complaint.
“We have asked Cwele to respond … If we decide that the matter has to be taken further, then Cwele could be charged with unprofessional conduct.”
Nkosi said if Cwele was found guilty of unprofessional conduct she could be fined, suspended or removed from the nurses’ registry.
The Mercury
