A 49-year-old Pretoria construction worker is under virtual house arrest in Chad, North Africa, because a firm he works for has apparently not paid an estimated R1-million in salaries owed to workers and suppliers in that country, the Star reported on Tuesday.
Rudi Lauterbach, who has been working in Chad since 2005, was arrested on Friday — the day he was supposed to have returned to South Africa — and detained for three days.
He was apparently ”held hostage” in appalling conditions, sharing a tiny cell with robbers and thieves. ”It has been hell. I was held hostage for three days. It was like a nightmare,” he told the paper. ”I had no idea why I had been arrested or what was going to happen to me.”
Lauterbach, who did not eat for those three days, said he had befriended armed robbers and thieves in an attempt to stay alive. ”It was awful. There was only one toilet and wash area and it was used for both ablution and cleaning. It is like nothing I have ever seen before,” he said.
He said the first time he knew he was in trouble was when he received a letter demanding that he hand himself over to police.
Once arrested, he discovered that a construction-material supplier was demanding an estimated R1-million for payment for labour and materials.
Lauterbach said Venture Communications had had a cash-flow problem for more than two years and that this had led to myriad problems with the project when it came to payments.
He said that although he had been released, he still did not feel safe, especially as his passport was still being held by Chadian authorities. He is now confined to his rented home in Chad’s capital, Ndjamena. ”They can arrest me at any moment, and have told me this. It is extremely worrying not knowing what is going on or what is going to happen.”
Lauterbach added that all he wants is to get back to his wife and children in Rooihuiskraal, Pretoria, as soon as possible.
His wife, Elma, told the Star she is devastated. ”What is going to happen if Venture Communications does not pay this money? I’m still in shock. I still do not believe that this is happening.”
The family last saw Lauterbach when he came home on leave in March.
Venture Communications operations director Berne van de Laar claimed that situations like this occur from time to time when people are locked up so that authorities can demand bribes.
”The amount that is being claimed is nowhere near what is registered in our books. On top of this, they are blaming us for money owed to them by other South African companies,” he said.
”One of the suppliers is feeling a little unhappy and the chaos was created when the supplier and a suspected warlord decided that they were uneasy about Rudi’s departure, as he is the main contact person between the company and the suppliers.”
Van de Laar said the company ”provided those concerned with guarantees of payment, which has led to Lauterbach’s release”.
”We have sent company representatives to Chad, and as soon as claims are verified and payments made, they will hopefully return his passport and let him come home,” he said.
The Department of Home Affairs told the Star it was investigating the matter and would comment on Wednesday. — Sapa