A 30-year-old Namibian national, Pauline Mbangula, who was arrested on suspicion of drug possession and trafficking at Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg in September last year, has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

A clerk at the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court told NBC News that Mbangula was sentenced on 24 June after pleading guilty to the charges.

Mbangula was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport after arriving from São Paulo, where she had ingested over 68 cocaine pellets.

At the time of her arrest, South African Police Service spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe told NBC News that Mbangula appeared fragile and vulnerable.

Mbangula is said to have met a Nigerian lover online, with the pair travelling from Luanda, the capital of Angola, before going to São Paulo. She reportedly travelled back without her alleged lover.

Her arrest sparked debate about the vulnerability of young women to drug trafficking following brief romances, with another Namibian woman currently jailed in Ethiopia.

Helvi Ndapanda Kristian was arrested at Bole International Airport in Ethiopia in January last year after being found with 4.70 kg of cocaine in her suitcase.

The 26-year-old was also returning from a short holiday in São Paulo, Brazil.