Drug dealer Nabolisa gets laptop in jail

Johannesburg - A court has ruled that convicted drug dealer Frank Nabolisa may have his own laptop in prison, The New Age reported on Thursday.

"The applicant is to be allowed to receive reading material including a personal computer laptop and internet access, which he will use under supervision," Judge Kathy Satchwell reportedly said.

The Nigerian brought the application in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

According to The New Age, he intended using the laptop to study a computer and internet certificate course at Intec College.

Nabolisa was convicted of drug dealing and of using a drug courier, with Sheryl Cwele, a municipal official and former wife of Minister of State Security Siyabonga Cwele. They are each serving 20 years.

Satchwell reportedly ruled that the laptop be brought by his family and kept in a safe place determined by the head of the prison, who would also determine the time of its use.

She refused his application to be reclassified a Group A prisoner, from Group B, which would have given him privileges such as contact visits.

The New Age reported that he must apply to the management committee for upgrading, and to the head of prison for contact visits.