Sheryl Cwele, 50, wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele, appeared on charges of drug dealing in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday.

She was arrested in Port Shepstone on Friday morning and brought to Pietermaritzburg. She is the director of health and community services for the Hibiscus Coast (Uvongo/Margate) municipality.

The indictment names Frank Nabolis, a Nigerian who was arrested in Gauteng in December.

They allegedly conspired to import cocaine into South Africa, recruiting young white women on the pretext of arranging short-term jobs for them overseas.

Their alleged plan was to have them smuggle cocaine into the country in their luggage on their return.

One of those arrested was Tessa Beetge, nabbed in Sao Paulo by Brazilian federal police on June 13, 2008. They found 9,2kg of cocaine concealed in her baggage. She is currently serving a jail sentence for drug trafficking in Sao Paulo.

Cwele and Nabolis were allegedly in contact with each other soon after Beetge's arrest and Nabolis left the country soon after.

State counsel advocate Ian Cook said that Cwele and Nabolis would appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court again on February 12.

It was still being decided if the pair would get bail.

In an interview with The Mercury newspaper a day before her arrest, Cwele insisted that she was innocent and said as a Christian she believed "the only person who will solve the problem is God".

The Democratic Alliance on Friday urged the State Security Minister to prove that he was in no way involved in the matter or to resign from the Cabinet.

"This is disturbing news and raises a number of serious questions regarding the minister. We believe that he must demonstrate to the South African public that he is in no way compromised by this matter; if he fails to do so, he ought to stand down from his position right away."