The families of Peter Huxham and Frik Potgieter called for their release during a protest on the fringes of Africa Energy Week in Cape Town on Tuesday.
The families of two South African engineers who they say were arrested on trumped-up drug charges in Equatorial Guinea called for their immediate release during a protest outside the Africa Energy Week conference on Tuesday.
Officials from Equatorial Guinea are attending the conference at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where the families pleaded for clemency and the release of the men, who have been held in prison for 634 days, or nearly 21 months.
Peter Huxham, a dual British-South African citizen, and South African Frik Potgieter were arrested on drug trafficking charges in Equatorial Guinea just two days after South African courts seized the luxury yacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president, Teodore Nguema Obiang Mangue, the president’s son.
Mangue’s two luxury Cape Town villas in Clifton and Bishopscourt had also earlier been impounded after a court ruling on a business matter.
Huxham and Potgieter, who work on vessels for Dutch oil and gas company SBM Offshore in Equatorial Guinea, had just completed a five-week contract and were due to fly to South Africa when they were arrested in February 2023. Both have worked in the country on contracts for more than a decade but had not met until their arrests.
Family spokesperson Shaun Murphy said during their June 2023 trial, no credible evidence, witnesses or expert testimonies were presented to the court by the state, nor was any proof presented that drugs were in the men’s possession.
It was alleged that drugs were found in their luggage. But their luggage, combination-locked and unopened, was still in their rooms five days after their arrest when their employer collected it in the presence of hotel management and local police.
The court handed Huxham and Potgieter a 12-year prison sentence, before sending them to a prison in Mongomo, which is reserved for political prisoners. They were also ordered to pay $5 million each in damages, and additional fines. The men have filed an appeal against the manner in which the court case was handled and the stiff sentences.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention intervened in July 2024, issuing a formal opinion declaring their detention “illegal and arbitrary” and calling for their immediate release.
Arbitrary detention is a direct violation of human rights, including the right to liberty and security of person, as enshrined in international law. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights safeguard people from arbitrary arrest and detention.
Murphy told the Mail & Guardian this week that the long imprisonment has taken its toll on the men’s health.
He said Huzham and Potgieter suffer from medical conditions including high blood pressure, have lost significant weight and are suffering from depression related to their detention.
“Frick needs a sleep apnoea machine and from what we understand he has his machine at the moment, which is obviously good news, but he needs parts for it and we don’t know if he has these,” he said.
Murphy said the men are getting medication but that it runs out and “we continuously try to send meds through SBM or the consulate and then the prison will decide how they’re going to distribute them”.
Murphy said the men had last seen their families in December 2022 and had spoken to their partners’ on the phone for 20 to 30 minutes during about five consular visits to the prison.
Murphy urged the department of international relations and cooperation [Dirco] to intervene in the matter and to “do what you need to do to bring Frik and Peter home”.
“We hear that there is a lot going on in the background and that it’s at a sensitive stage, but we don’t have communication with Dirco,” he said
Murphy pleaded with International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola and the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, David Lammy, to find an urgent solution to Huzham and Potgieter’s plight. Both ministers attended the conference in Cape Town on Tuesday.
Huxham’s partner, Kathy McConnachie, said the family was growing “increasingly concerned” for the men’s physical health and mental wellbeing.
“We plead with the government of Equatorial Guinea to show compassion and grant them clemency so they can come home to their families and rebuild their lives,” she said. “Their release would mean everything to us.”
Potgieter’s wife, Sonja, said the family was appealing to the government of Equatorial Guinea to “end our suffering. Every day without them is a day filled with worry, sadness, and an overwhelming sense of helplessness. Please grant them their freedom.”
Murphy urged the public to sign a petition for the men’s release.
Spokespersons for the international relations department and for Lammy had not responded to questions from the M&G by the time of publication.