A prayer for international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor will accompany her to Equatorial Guinea this weekend from the daughter of a South African engineer detained there.
“Oh please lord guide her, lead her and help her to bring them back,” Jolene Potgieter posted on Facebook.
Her father Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, both engineers, were arrested at their hotel in the capital, Malabo, hours before they were due to return to South Africa after working on offshore oil and gas platforms for the Dutch firm SBM Production Contractors. Though working for the same company for 11 and 15 years, the men had not met before their arrests as they were working on different vessels. They were accused of drug possession and each sentenced to 12 years behind bars and jointly ordered to pay $10m (R189m) in fines.
Kathy McConnachie, long-time partner of Huxham, has also shared her hope that his release may be imminent.
“Langebaan is waiting for you to return. You are loved,” she wrote to Huxham on Facebook. She also remembered Potgieter, telling him George on the Garden Route was awaiting his return.
Head of public diplomacy Clayson Monyela confirmed Pandor's trip.
“The minister will be in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, with the purpose of the visit to negotiate the release of the two South African engineers,” he told TimesLIVE.
A team working to secure their release has been pleading since their arrest for the government and the UN to intervene, saying the two men are hostages because they were caught up in a geopolitical tangle between Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Their arrests coincided with the attachment of a superyacht linked to Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang, who has been fighting for the return of two upmarket Cape Town properties attached by the Western Cape High Court several years ago. The attachments are linked to a legal skirmish with South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg, who won a civil claim for damages against Obiang after being wrongfully imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea.
DA MP Emma Powell sent her well-wishes to Pandor for the trip.
“Potgieter and Huxham's unlawful detention is a clear breach of human rights by the government of Equatorial Guinea,” she said. “This intervention [by the SA government] is long overdue. The DA wishes minister Pandor well with these negotiations and calls on her office to keep the traumatised families updated as discussions progress.”
In July 2023, international relations and co-operation department director-general Zane Dangor said he was disturbed to learn of the sentence handed to Huxham and Potgieter.
He expressed support to their families and friends, advised the government there that it was responsible for the welfare and safety of the men in their custody and expressed his “willingness to have more direct and constructive co-operation with the relevant authorities”.
TimesLIVE
Families of imprisoned SA engineers welcome Naledi Pandor trip to Equatorial Guinea
Image: Jolene Potgieter via Facebook
A prayer for international relations and co-operation minister Naledi Pandor will accompany her to Equatorial Guinea this weekend from the daughter of a South African engineer detained there.
“Oh please lord guide her, lead her and help her to bring them back,” Jolene Potgieter posted on Facebook.
Her father Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, both engineers, were arrested at their hotel in the capital, Malabo, hours before they were due to return to South Africa after working on offshore oil and gas platforms for the Dutch firm SBM Production Contractors. Though working for the same company for 11 and 15 years, the men had not met before their arrests as they were working on different vessels. They were accused of drug possession and each sentenced to 12 years behind bars and jointly ordered to pay $10m (R189m) in fines.
Kathy McConnachie, long-time partner of Huxham, has also shared her hope that his release may be imminent.
“Langebaan is waiting for you to return. You are loved,” she wrote to Huxham on Facebook. She also remembered Potgieter, telling him George on the Garden Route was awaiting his return.
Head of public diplomacy Clayson Monyela confirmed Pandor's trip.
“The minister will be in Equatorial Guinea on Sunday, with the purpose of the visit to negotiate the release of the two South African engineers,” he told TimesLIVE.
A team working to secure their release has been pleading since their arrest for the government and the UN to intervene, saying the two men are hostages because they were caught up in a geopolitical tangle between Equatorial Guinea and South Africa.
Their arrests coincided with the attachment of a superyacht linked to Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang, who has been fighting for the return of two upmarket Cape Town properties attached by the Western Cape High Court several years ago. The attachments are linked to a legal skirmish with South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg, who won a civil claim for damages against Obiang after being wrongfully imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea.
DA MP Emma Powell sent her well-wishes to Pandor for the trip.
“Potgieter and Huxham's unlawful detention is a clear breach of human rights by the government of Equatorial Guinea,” she said. “This intervention [by the SA government] is long overdue. The DA wishes minister Pandor well with these negotiations and calls on her office to keep the traumatised families updated as discussions progress.”
In July 2023, international relations and co-operation department director-general Zane Dangor said he was disturbed to learn of the sentence handed to Huxham and Potgieter.
He expressed support to their families and friends, advised the government there that it was responsible for the welfare and safety of the men in their custody and expressed his “willingness to have more direct and constructive co-operation with the relevant authorities”.
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
UN asked to help save SA ‘hostages’ imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea
One year on, families renew plea for help for engineers held in Equatorial Guinea
Imprisoned SA engineer proposes to his partner from Equatorial Guinea jail
Freed hostage Gerco van Deventer could take time to reintegrate after six-year ordeal, say experts
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