LIKE prospectors heading out into the wild west in search of wealth beyond their wildest dreams, Andrew Sweetnam and Fanie Pelser left South Africa in February to investigate mining opportunities in Angola. They have not been seen again.
In March, Namibian advocate Jan Malan left on a similar expedition and disappeared just as mysteriously. Malan was carrying close to R1-million and Pelser had more than R300 000.
All three men relied on unofficial go-betweens to escort them to Angola. The Department of Foreign Affairs and other mining concession owners said their disappearance should serve as a warning to other South Africans embarking on unofficial expeditions in the hope of getting rich quick.
Sweetnam’s family has not given up hope that he is still alive. “Andrew’s just got to be alive. In 1991 we lost his oldest brother. I don’t want to go through that again,” said his mother Mrs Mickey Sweetnam, in an interview punctuated by tears.
Sweetnam said her son was a diamond sorter employed by Pelser who said he was going to buy a diamond concession. They left for Caprivi in Namibia on February 14 to meet two men who were to take them across the border to Angola.
“After five days, when they did not come out, we started panicking. We heard all kinds of stories, they had been ambushed and kidnapped by rebels who were holding them for ransom,” said Sweetnam.
“Then we heard the people Andrew was involved with had connections with Executive Outcomes [a former mercenary group which was active in Angola]. If there was a link, I’m 100% sure it was without Andrew’s knowledge. As there’s a God above my head I swear my son is no mercenary. He did his military service in the navy and has had no training since then.”
Sweetnam said when the four South African men who were held hostage in Angola by Unita flew home two weeks ago, she “cried her heart out” when she heard how they were ill-treated. She immediately contacted their relatives to ask if any of them had seen her son, but discovered that they had been held in isolation.
“Andrew has a wife and two small children who need their father. We are all praying that he is alive and will return to us soon,” said Sweetnam.
Pelser’s brother Bill is not as confident the two are still alive. He had worked in Angola and said the diamond-rich areas in the north were like the “wild west” where banditry was the order of the day.
“At the moment Fanie is just missing. But my gut feeling is that he has been executed and the money was taken,” Pelser said.
Although his brother had been involved in Executive Outcomes, he had resigned from the outfit and had gone to Angola representing an international banking group. Pelser refused to name the group, or confirm whether it involved people linked to Executive Outcomes.
“He had a letter of intent from them, indicating that they were interested in setting up businesses in Angola with interests in mining, schools and hospitals,” Pelser said.
“They were supposed to meet Unita in the north, because Unita controls most of the diamond areas. Unita people also have the portfolios of Ministry of Energy and Ministry of Mines and Minerals, so it makes sense to work with them.
`I have spoken to Unita and they say my brother did not arrive for his appointment with them. They suggested that Fanie and Andrew were in an isolated area and couldn’t send word to us. I have no reason to suspect them.”
Pelser said he believed the two men who were to take his brother and Sweetnam to Angola were the most likely suspects. He said one had returned to South Africa and refused to speak to him, and the other was now based in England.
“We have approached various people for help, but it’s like talking to a wall. The South African Police Services can do nothing because no crime has been committed in South Africa. We’ve tried the intelligence community, the Red Cross, the Angolan ambassador and Interpol. Interpol says they are investigating, but they’ve turned up nothing yet.
“I am so heartsore for Fanie’s family. He is married and has a seven-year-old daughter who’s been very traumatised by her father’s disappearance.”
Interpol investigator Marius Dyssel said the disappearance of the two was being handled as a case of missing persons. He had interviewed both men who were to take the two into Angola and could not comment at this stage.
His next step was to travel to Angola to seek more information.
A representative for the Department of Foreign Affairs said he could not comment on Pelser and Sweetnam’s disappearance as the department was not notified of their trip to Angola or of their final destination.
However, the department would advise businessmen wanting to invest in mining concessions in the north to notify the South African embassy in Luanda of their arrival, the names of the people they were to contact and the area in which they intended mining.
Ben van Heerden, part-owner of a diamond-mining concession in northern Angola, who employed the four South Africans held hostage by Unita, underlined that warning.
“I know about Pelser and Sweetnam and the circumstances surrounding their disappearance reeks of foul play,” Van Heerden said. “It is best to go into Angola in an official way by dealing directly with the government.
“You’re looking for trouble if you’re on your own with lots of money in your pocket. If you go through proper channels, government officials can escort you to any corner of the country. But lots of South Africans have dollar signs in their eyes and they’re blind to the dangers they’re facing.”