Durban - It will be Christmas and New Year in jail for SAA flight attendant Priya "Pree" Govender, accused of drug trafficking.
The 32-year-old former Phoenix resident pleaded not guilty to charges of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug when she appeared in the Stirling Gardens Magistrate's Court in Australia last Wednesday
The court manager, media and public liaison, Val Buchanan, said Govender would be remanded in custody and would appear in the Supreme Court next month.
Read: SAA hostess bust for drugs in Australia
She will be behind bars at the Melaleuca Remand and Reintegration Facility - a maximum security prison for women in Western Australia.
She was arrested by Australian Border Force officers at Perth Airport in August after 6kg of cocaine was found concealed in books in her luggage.
Govender has worked for SAA since January 2010.
The airline's head of department of media relations, Tlali Tlali, said the matter was being handled by Australian authorities.
“And as such, the airline does not have any direct access to the status of her case or proceedings as she is charged individually.”
He said their station manager in Perth had kept in touch with Govender after her arrest and that their internal processes and investigations were finalised.
Her family declined to comment.