Envoy had drug rap, official probe finds

AN independent government probe has confirmed a Sunday Times exposé that South Africa’s high commissioner to Singapore, Hazel Ngubeni, is a convicted drug dealer who failed to declare her criminal record when she was appointed as a diplomat in 2013.

Three sources told the Sunday Times this week that Ngubeni had offered to resign after the government’s “explosive report” was submitted to International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

“If she resigns and the minister accepts it, this means she won’t be subjected to an external disciplinary hearing where witnesses with intimate knowledge about her past history would be called to testify against her,” said one source.

Nkoana-Mashabane’s deputy, Luwellyn Landers, told the parliamentary portfolio committee on international relations last month that Ngubeni’s employment as high commissioner was “an absolute disgrace”.

Nkoana-Mashabane had asked the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation to investigate Ngubeni after the Sunday Times revealed that she had spent two years in a US prison after she was arrested in New York for smuggling cocaine in 1999.

The government report confirms that Ngubeni failed to declare her arrest and conviction when she was nominated for the diplomatic post in 2013.

One of the three sources said Ngubeni had asked for permission to go to Singapore this week to pack her bags, then come back and resign. The source said Nkoana-Mashabane was considering giving permission.

“The problem now is that Ngubeni’s diplomatic status has been revoked and if she gets arrested by the authorities in Singapore for one thing or the other, she would be treated as an ordinary citizen and won’t have any diplomatic protection,” the source added.

Department spokesman Nelson Kgwete said: “The department has finalised its investigation into allegations made against high commissioner Ngubeni.

“The report is currently under consideration by management. The matter will be finalised within the next week, following which a recommendation will be made to the minister.”

Kgwete refused to answer specific questions.

Ngubeni did not respond to questions sent to her on Friday.