SOUTH AFRICAN POLITICIAN COMMENDS FG OVER JAIL TERM FOR SOUTH AFRICAN DRUG TRAFFICKER

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By:Aminat Tajudeen

The President of ActionSA and Johannesburg mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba, has commended Nigeria for sentencing a South African woman to 40 years in prison for drug trafficking, saying the country had done what his government and justice system had failed to do.

Mashaba made the remarks on Friday while reacting to reports of the conviction of 38-year-old Will Jessica Ann, who was sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja for importing 5.75kg of heroin into Nigeria.

“We thank Nigeria for doing what our government and justice system fails to do with the full load of Nigerians who smuggle drugs, turn our children into zombies by feeding them drugs, and prostitute our women and girls. When will we wake up and restore law and order?” Mashaba wrote on X.

Ann was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on July 6, 2026, after 14 large blocks of heroin were allegedly discovered in her luggage.

According to the NDLEA, Ann had travelled from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja and was allegedly linked to a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodian-South African route with her husband, Jan Coenraad De Jager.

The 38-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts bordering on the importation of 5.75kg of heroin and conspiracy to import the same quantity before Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu.

The court sentenced her to 15 years’ imprisonment on the first count and 25 years on the second, with the sentences to run concurrently.

Reacting to the judgment, the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said the conviction demonstrated the judiciary’s support for the agency’s efforts to combat drug trafficking.

Marwa said the judgment reinforced the agency’s position that Nigeria would not provide a “soft landing” for international drug cartels.

Ann’s husband was also arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27 while allegedly attempting to traffic 3.2kg of illicit drugs to Hong Kong, according to the NDLEA.

Mashaba, a former mayor of Johannesburg, is currently ActionSA’s candidate for the city in South Africa’s 2026 municipal elections.