The South African Foreign Affairs department said on Thursday afternoon that ”no-one from South Africa has died in Equatorial Guinea” after Spanish newspapers reported that a SA mercenary suspected of plotting a coup in that country had been tortured to death.
El Pais said the coup rumours have sparked a wave of xenophobia in Equatorial Guinea, with Ghana and Nigeria taking measures to repatriate their citizens.
El Pais said that Nick du Toit (48) was detained earlier this month along with 15 other foreigners on charges of plotting a coup against President Teodoro Obiang in an attempt to replace him with opposition politician Severo Moto, who lives in Spain. Du Toit has been described as the leader of the alleged mercenaries. Moto has denied allegations that he wanted to take power in the oil-rich former Spanish colony of 500 000 residents.
The paper said he co-owned a security company with Obiang’s brother Armengol. Several of Obiang’s brothers are believed to be engaged in a power struggle with his son Teodorin.
On Thursday afternoon the department told the Mail & Guardian Online that the South African ambassador to Gabon, Mokgethi Monaisa, had received assurances from the authorities in Equatorial Guinea that ”no-one from South African has died in Equatorial Guinea”.
A man identified as Du Toit appeared on television in the central African country last week. He reportedly said he had led a group of mercenaries there on a mission to abduct President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and force him into exile.
Equatorial Guinea government spokesperson Antonio Fernando Nve Ngu said on Thursday an alleged German mercenary, who was one of the 15 supposed plotters, had died of cerebral malaria.
French news agency, AFP, reported that Gerhard Eugen Nershz was transferred on Tuesday from Malabo’s central jail to hospital on the recommendation of the
prison doctor.
”He received the appropriate care, but died a few hours later of cerebral malaria with complications,” Nve Mgu said in a statement read on state radio.
Apart from Du Toit, the Equatorial Guinean authorities have identified the suspects only by giving a list of nationalities, saying they came from South Africa, Angola, Armenia, Sao Tome and Principe and Germany.
Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, state radio reported that judicial authorities are still putting the ”final touches” to charges against the 70 suspected mercenaries.
The members of the group were expected to make their first court appearance on Wednesday, but authorities have been adding to the list of charges they will face.
Attorney General Bharat Patel told the station that charges under Zimbabwe’s sweeping security laws are being prepared, in addition to the alleged violations of immigration and firearms laws which have already been formally presented to the accused.
The Public Order and Security Act provides for offences involving rocket launchers and other weapons not covered under regular firearms laws, Patel said.
The men’s lawyers were informed they would be charged with conspiring to acquire weapons, but were not given details, defence attorney Jonathan Samkange said.
The suspects, who are being held at a maximum security prison, were arrested after their aging Boeing 727 landed at Harare International Airport on March 8.
Authorities say they made a false declaration concerning the number of passengers aboard the plane and its final destination.
No weapons were found on the aircraft. But three of the suspects, who were at the airport to meet the plane, are accused of trying to purchase weapons from the state arms manufacturer, Zimbabwe Defence Industries.
Zimbabwe investigators allege that Spanish-based rebel leader Severo Moto offered the suspects $1,8-million and oil rights to overthrow the government in Equatorial Guinea. Fifteen suspected mercenaries were also arrested in that country last week.
Most of the charges mentioned so far are relatively minor.
However, on Tuesday, the men’s lawyers were informed they would also be facing charges of conspiring to kill Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Ngeuma and his bodyguards — a capital offence.
Defence attorneys have questioned whether Zimbabwe has jurisdiction over an alleged conspiracy in another country.
While it is unclear what section of the security act will be used, some offences are punishable by life in prison.
The government had also raised the possibility of charges under a colonial-era law banning activities of ”foreign subversive organisations”.
But Patel said on Wednesday the law was outdated and ”of very limited scope”.
Most of those arrested — including South Africans, Namibians, Angolans, Congolese and one Zimbabwean traveling on a South African passport — were members of apartheid-era South African military units.
Since apartheid’s end a decade ago, South African authorities have struggled to curb the activities of former soldiers trying to shop their services abroad.
Regional leaders have distanced themselves from the alleged coup plot in Equatorial Guinea.
”It is regrettable that people considering themselves to be Namibian citizens would link up with their former commanders to go to other countries,” Namibian Information Minister Nangolo Mbumba said on Wednesday. ”If this story is true, it is embarrassing.”
The suspects say they were headed to eastern Congo to provide security at mining operations.
Zimbabwe authorities, increasingly isolated because of President Robert Mugabe’s authoritarian rule, have sought to make the most of the arrests.
The state broadcaster has started referring to the suspects as ”terrorists,” saying their capture puts Zimbabwe ”in the forefront of the global fight against terrorism”. – Sapa-AP, AFP