28-month nightmare in African prison

The authorities accused them of being connected to a cocaine shipment allegedly found on a flight from Singapore, a flight they weren't even on. No drugs were ever found on them or in their luggage.

- Kristy Kolberg

After 28 months behind bars in a foreign country for a crime they didn't commit, George resident Frik Potgieter (55) and his colleague, Peter Huxham (57), are finally home and now have to rebuild their lives.

These two South Africans, both employed by Dutch oil and gas company SBM Offshore, were arrested in Equatorial Guinea in February 2023.

They were on their way home after a standard five-week offshore work rotation when the police detained them at the Anda China Malabo Hotel. The authorities accused them of being connected to a cocaine shipment allegedly found on a flight from Singapore, a flight they weren't even on. No drugs were ever found on them or in their luggage.

The men's first court appearance came six months later. It was a brief, flash-in-the-pan proceeding entirely in Spanish. No evidence was presented, and five days later, they were sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined US$5 million each (about R90m each). Their sentence was handed down on Frik's daughter Jolene's birthday.