Pretoria — Convicted South African drug mule Nolubabalo Nobanda will receive support from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) - this after she was sentenced to a 15-year jail term.

"As a result of her pleading guilty and in view of this cooperation, the sentence was reduced to 15-years and a THB 1 million fine (about R 250 000). Should Ms Nobanda be unable to pay this fine, it will be converted to a maximum of two years added to her sentence," the department's spokesperson Clayson Monyela said in a statement.

South African embassy officials in Thailand attended the final court appearance earlier today where the 23-year-old's initial sentence of 30 years, together with a THB 2 million fine, was reduced to 15 years.

"The Embassy will continue to visit Ms Nobanda and render consular services to her and the other South Africans imprisoned in Thailand. Consular support is also extended to the family members of such prisoners," explained Monyela.

She was arrested in December 2011 after she was found with cocaine in her dreadlocks.

Last December, another South African, Janice Linden, was executed in China.