Families of SA engineers jailed in Equatorial Guinea reach milestone in fight for justice

The families of South African Frik Potgieter and dual UK-South African citizen Peter Huxham, two oil engineers who have been imprisoned for more than two years on allegedly trumped-up drug charges in Equatorial Guinea, believe Pretoria and London should be doing more to secure their release.

Potgieter and Huxham have been incarcerated unlawfully and arbitrarily in the West African country since 9 February 2023, the United Nations has declared, after being sentenced to 12 years in prison for drug trafficking.

The real reason for their arrests, their families believe, is that two days before, the Western Cape Division of the High Court had ordered the seizure of a superyacht belonging to Teodoro Obiang Mangue, Equatorial Guinea’s playboy vice-president.

The court had earlier ordered the seizure of two villas in Cape Town belonging to Mangue, who is the son of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea.

Equatorial Guinea Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. (Photo: Sarah Yensel / EPA-EFE)

The seizures were related to another, unrelated, case of a South African unlawfully imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea.

The United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued a formal opinion in July 2024 declaring that the trial of Potgieter and Huxham had been unfair and that their continued detention was “arbitrary and illegal”. It called for their immediate release.

Read more: Lamola’s glimmer of hope for two South Africans in Equatorial Guinea prison

But President Obiang has ignored this appeal as well as the personal entreaties of two South African ministers of international relations, the incumbent, Ronald Lamola, and his predecessor Naledi Pandor, to release them.

Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Ronald Lamola. (Photo: Alet Pretorius / Gallo Images)

Pandor visited the Equatorial Guinean capital of Malabo in March 2024 to meet her counterpart, Simeón Oyono Esono Angue, and President Obiang. Lamola met Angue at the UN in New York in September 2024 and then visited Malabo in January 2025 as Ramaphosa’s special envoy to appeal again for clemency for Potgieter and Huxham.

‘Enough is enough’

This week the Potgieter and Huxham families said they had reached a significant milestone in their fight for justice: 15,000 people had signed a petition demanding that the South African and UK governments secure the immediate release of the two men.

They said the petition would be formally handed over to Lamola, the Speaker of the South African Parliament, Thokozile Didiza, and the chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation, Supra Mahumapelo.

“With every signature, another voice joins us in saying: enough is enough. Two years is far too long — these innocent men must be released now,” said Shaun Murphy and Francois Nigrini, spokespersons for the families.

Family and friends of Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham outside the Cape Town International Conference Centre on 5 November 2024. (Photo: Jaco Marais / Gallo Images / Die Burger)

Apart from the ruling by the UN group, they noted that in October 2024, the South African Parliament had unanimously passed a motion calling for urgent diplomatic intervention and action from the SA government.

Read more: South African Parliament unites in call for release of engineers held in Equatorial Guinea

They urged Lamola and President Cyril Ramaphosa to “prioritise this matter and actively and persistently engage Equatorial Guinea’s leadership to secure the immediate release of Frik and Peter.

“As a dual UK-South African citizen, Peter’s case also demands urgent action from the UK government. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) must apply increased and sustained pressure on Equatorial Guinea.

“The South African Parliament must ensure that the government follows through on the commitments made in its October 2024 resolution. Every diplomatic avenue must be urgently explored.

“President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has the power to show compassion. As a father and a devout Catholic, he can grant Frik and Peter clemency and put an end to this suffering. The families once again appeal directly to him for mercy.”

Deteriorating health

Murphy and Nigrini said the health of the two men and their families was deteriorating.

“Over the past two years, Frik and Peter’s families have endured unimaginable pain. Frik and Peter’s mental and physical health has suffered under dire prison conditions, and their families have had only six calls with Frik and eight calls with Peter since their arrests. With every passing day, their hope fades further.”

Murphy said the UK government could do more to secure the release of Huxham.

Kathy McConnachie, his fiancée, told the Sunday Telegraph this week; “I would just like both governments, South Africa and the UK, to try and do more. We need them home. Our lives are very empty without these men at home.”

Huxham’s family said his mental health had deteriorated in prison and they feared he would not survive his 12-year sentence.

A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) told Daily Maverick: “We are providing support to Mr Huxham and his family and continue to raise his case with the Equatorial Guinean government at every appropriate opportunity.”

It is understood that the UK continues to engage with Pretoria on this issue and that British Foreign Secretary David Lammy discussed it with Lamola when he visited South Africa in November 2024.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy. (Photo: Andy Rain / EPA-EFE)

Lord Collins, the British minister for Africa, raised the case with the Equatorial Guinean foreign minister on 22 September 2024 and separately via written correspondence in December 2024. He also met with the Huxham family on 11 September 2024.

The FCDO has also arranged two visits to Huxham and Potgieter over the last two years, during which time Huxham was able to call McConnachie, said a spokesperson, adding that the British government was in regular contact with Huxham’s UK-based family. DM