Families of jailed engineers in Equatorial Guinea stage Cape Town protest against 634-day incarceration

Frik's brother-in-law, Shaun Murphy joining the protest in support of the two families on tuesday at Africa Energy Week in Cape Town. (Photo: Lisakanya Venna).

By Lisakanya Venna

5 Nov 2024

The loved ones of jailed engineers Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham took the opportunity to put the spotlight on their heartache outside the African Energy Week event in Cape Town, at which representatives from jailers Equatorial Guinea were present. The duo have been detained since 9 February 2023.

The families of Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham took a stand against the 634-day detention of their loved ones outside Africa Energy Week, which had representatives from Equatorial Guinea where the two men are imprisoned.

Frik Potgieter (54) and Peter Huxham (55), a dual South African-UK citizen, were arrested while working for Dutch oil and gas company SBM Offshore in February 2023. In June they were sentenced to 12 years’ prison on drug trafficking charges, which the families say were fabricated.

Read more: Families of two South Africans jailed in Equatorial Guinea launch ‘Free Frik and Peter’ campaign

On Tuesday, 5 November 2024, their families and loved ones took action by staging a protest outside Africa Energy Week at the Cape Town International Convention Centre to appeal to representatives of Equatorial Guinea, Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola, and David Lammy, the UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, for the return of the two engineers.

Read more: UN demands release of SA engineers held in Equatorial Guinea

The families summed up the family’s desperate plea and their men’s innocence.

Toll on Loved Ones

“Hopefully we can get through to everybody to get on board and help free our guys, because they’ve been there for 634 days unlawfully… The United Nations already proved that it’s unlawful, there’s no evidence. They were just at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Potgieter’s wife, Sonja Potgieter.

Despite the uncertainty, the family holds on to hope that government officials will respond and contact them: “We know there’s a lot going on, but we hope in the near future that they will contact us,” said Potgieter.

The last time she spoke with her husband was about a month ago, a brief 15-minute phone call that brought her some comfort, knowing he was holding on despite missing his family dearly.

Potgieter’s imprisonment has had a devastating effect on the family. Potgieter’s daughter, Jolene Potgieter, said: “It has affected my relationship, not badly but we have been waiting for two years to get married… I should’ve been married this month but I am not going to walk down the aisle without my dad.”

Huxham’s wife Kathy McConnachie described how much she missed her husband.

Frik Potgieter's wife Sonja and Peter Huxham’s wife Kathy McConnachie, (right ) have appealed once again for their husbands' return. (Photo: Lisakanya Venna).

“We can’t spend another Christmas without these men… We all want our men home, and that’s what it means for us, is to bring our men home.

“I have been going for psychology treatments, luckily, and it’s been helping. It’s difficult some days, some days I try to put it aside, but God’s been looking after me. I am coping so that I can help Peter when he comes home.”

‘Illegally incarcerated’

Shaun Murphy, Potgieter’s brother-in-law and the representative of the two families, said: “Our aim is to get the officials of Equatorial Guinea to grant clemency for both Potgieter and Huxham.

“We know obviously that Minister Lamola and Lammy from the UK are here. So there’s a number of dignitaries that are here, and it’s really just to get that message across.

“Frik and Peter have been incarcerated now for 634 days, which is illegally incarcerated. They’ve been served a sentence of 12 years and $5-million, which is way outside of the scope of Equatorial Guinea’s normal justice system.”

Frik Potgieter's brother-in-law, Shaun Murphy, joins the protest. (Photo: Lisakanya Venna).

Murphy spoke of the struggle to communicate with Potgieter and Huxham, stating that: “ It's been very limited. I mean in 21 months, there’s been five calls, five and six calls. Very limited calls. You know, it’s about 20 to 30 minutes maximum. Signals do break…. and we also don’t know what the conditions are that they are making the calls under there. So we don’t know if we’re getting all of the information that we should be getting.

“What we are getting, however, is that they seem to be grouped after fairly well under the circumstances. They seem to be respected somewhat, and I think that’s understandable because, going back to what we believe this is, it’s a political thing… between South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. So Equatorial Guinea needs to look after their wellbeing.

“What is concerning, however, is that Peter has lost in excess of 35kg in the time that he’s been there, Frick has lost in excess of 25 kilos at the time they’ve been there. We feel that they might be a little bit undernourished. They don’t get much daylight time. They’re out the cell for like two hours per day. Otherwise, they are in the cell permanently. They do share a cell, as well. But they are sun-starved… I think more importantly than that, they are starved of their families. They’ve been prosecuted for a crime that they have not committed, and I think that’s the worst thing.’

“We don’t know when they’re going to come out, if there’s going to be any success in the short term, and what mental state they are going to be in.’’

The protest comes a few months after the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a formal opinion, labeling the duo’s imprisonment as both arbitrary and illegal.

The UN stated that: “The deprivation of liberty of Mr Huxham and Mr Potgieter is arbitrary in that it is contrary to Articles 3, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Articles 9, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and falls within categories I and III.”

As reported in Daily Maverick by Peter Fabricius, the families believe that the duo are caught up in diplomatic and political crossfire between South Africa and Equatorial Guinea. They were arrested two days after the South African courts seized a luxury superyacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. Earlier, the South African courts had also seized Obiang’s two luxury Cape Town villas.

“These assets were seized following a court ruling in South Africa on a separate matter, completely unrelated to Huxham and Potgieter. Even though the superyacht has been released, the villas remain impounded in South Africa – and the men remain in prison in Equatorial Guinea,” wrote Fabricius. DM

This article was amended on 6 November 2024 at 9.20am to reflect that Frik Potgieter does not have dual South African-UK citizenship.

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Toll on Loved Ones

‘Illegally incarcerated’