Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Piet Koene will on Monday rule on the admissibility of intercepted phone calls in the case involving the wife of SA's state security minister.
Lawyers representing Sheryl Cwele, the wife of state security minister, Siyabonga Cwele and her co-accused, Frank Nabolisa in October objected to the use of the transcripts of intercepted calls.
The police intercepted phone calls between Cwele, Nabolisa, and convicted drug mule Tessa Beetge.
The State intended producing transcripts of calls as evidence in their trial.
Both advocates representing Cwele and Nabolisa said the act under which the interception of calls was authorised did not cover cellphones. They also argued that the interception was not authorised by a designated judge.
It would “trample” the accused's privacy.
The State argued that the calls would give a detailed picture of what went on between Cwele, Nabolisa and Beetge. Beetge was arrested after 10kg of cocaine was found in her luggage in Brazil in 2008. Cwele and Nigerian national Nabolisa allegedly conspired to recruit Beetge and Charmaine Moss as drug mules. Moss told the court she turned down the alleged offer when she suspected something was amiss.
Beetge is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
The directive to monitor calls was granted by Judge J Swart on March 20, 2008 and it covers the period from April 29 to June 16, 2008.
It was obtained to intercept calls for Nabolisa and other people, he said. - Sapa