Bail application papers for Sheryl Cwele (50) wife of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele will be filed on Tuesday in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.

"We will file bail application papers early tomorrow [Tuesday] and the state will file on Thursday. What is happening is the exchange of papers," said Cwele's lawyer Mvuseni Ngubane.

The bail hearing would take place on Friday, he said.

Cwele and Frank Nabolis, a Nigerian arrested last month, face three charges.

These are: dealing or conspiring to deal in drugs; procuring a woman called Charmaine Moss to collect drugs in Turkey; and procuring another woman, Tessa Beetge, to smuggle nine kilograms of cocaine from South America.

Beetge was arrested in Sao Paulo by Brazilian police on June 13, 2008.

Police found 9.2 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in her baggage. She is currently serving an eight-year jail sentence in Sao Paulo for drug trafficking.

Ngubane said Cwele's bail hearing did not take place on Friday because of logistical problems.