South African engineers released from Equatorial Guinea prison after two years

THE two South African engineers who were locked up in Equatorial Guinea's Mongomo Prison for two years have finally been released.

- NICOLA DANIELS

Frederik 'Frik' Potgieter, 53, and Peter Huxham, 55, were arrested at their hotel in Malabo in Equatorial Guinea on February 9, 2023, on drug-related charges.

They were later found guilty of trafficking and illicit possession of drugs and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment each. In addition, they were ordered to pay $5 million (more than R96m) each in damages with an additional $2.5m (more than R48m) fine to be shared between them.

They were working offshore in the central African country, and the arrest came just two days after a South African court ordered the seizure of a super yacht, called Blue Shadow, valued above R300 million, and two luxury villas belonging to the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro “Teodorin” Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Mbasogo.

The men have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Since their arrest, their families as well as the South African government have advocated for their release. Government efforts included sending special envoys to secure their release on humanitarian grounds.

According to the families, their release follows a pardon from president Mbasogo.