The eldest of the 15 South Africans who are being held in the Democratic Republic of Congo was barely in the country for 24 hours before being arrested, News24 reported on Friday.
It said the project manager of the group, Eric Rademeyer, dodged arrest by being on a few days leave in Malawi.
Christo Roelofse, Omega Security Solutions’ chief manager in Africa, said Chris Sauer (68) had just arrived in Matadi, south of Kinshasa, on Friday last week to train security guards at the company’s cement factory.
He was arrested on the same afternoon along with two South African colleagues, Johan Engelbrecht and Andrew Campbell.
Earlier that morning, 12 of Omega’s employees were arrested in Kinshasa, where they were boosting security at harbours for the DRC Department of Transport.
Leon Smith, Omega’s human resources manager, said on Thursday there was concern about Sauer as he was the eldest and has high blood pressure. Two of the others are asthma sufferers. Omega sent medication with a legal representative to where the men were being held in a police station.
The men were arrested after the DRC government alleged they were planning to overthrow the government with the help of three Americans and 10 Nigerians.
The Americans formed part of the election team of Dr Oscar Kashala, one of the 32 election candidates for the country’s election on July 30.
Roelofse said he was still shocked by the ”silly” allegations.
He denied Iraqis were involved or that the men had been deployed in the DRC from Iraq.
Eight of the Omega employees had worked in Iraq for Omega as security officials last year. Four other South African guards, not in the employ of Omega, as well as 10 Nigerian guards, were also arrested.
According to Roelofse the American team used Omega’s employees as guides and guards while travelling in the DRC.
”We rented vehicles for them from President Joseph Kabila’s sister’s company, from whom we also rented our own vehicles.”
Roelofse produced permits, contracts and documentation approved by the DRC government on Thursday, after that government had denied the existence of such documents.
The 15 Omega employees are from Pretoria, Johannesburg, Vaal Triangle, Durban, Northwest, Northern Cape, Kimberley and Port Elizabeth. They are Herman Thyssen (guard leader), Elisio Mendosa and Jo-Jo Viera (team leaders), Gielherme Alfredo-Mucata (operational medical official), Samuel Andreas, Higino d’Abreo, Graca da Costa, Domingos Paulino, Mingeli Pedru, Fernando Semende en Alberto Viljoen (guards), and Andrew Campbell, Chris Sauer, Johan Engelbrecht and Stefan Ferreira (training team). – Sapa