DIRCO raises concerns with Equatorial Guinea officials over detention of 2 SA nationals
The department said on Monday that South Africa’s ambassador had met with foreign affairs officials in Equatorial Guinea to raise the concerns.
Chrispin Phiri, the spokesperson for International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola, addressed a media briefing on various matters on 26 August 2024. Picture: @DIRCO_ZA/X
CAPE TOWN - The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) says it’s been speaking to representatives of the Equatorial Guinea government both locally and in that country to express unhappiness about the detention of two South African nationals.
Engineers, Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham, were sentenced and jailed on what their families believe are trumped-up drug charges in retaliation against legal action being taken in South Africa against the vice president of that country.
The department said on Monday that South Africa’s ambassador had met with foreign affairs officials in Equatorial Guinea to raise the concerns.
Last week, the families of Potgieter and Huxham made an appearance in Parliament to appeal for intervention in getting their loved ones freed.
The men were detained a day before they were due to return to South Africa in February last year after a work rotation.
They both worked as expats for a Dutch oil company on vessels offshore.
On Monday, International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said that diplomats had in the past week raised the matter in both countries.
"Our acting deputy director-general for Africa summoned the ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to South Africa and he reiterated our concerns and handed over a note verbale. The ambassador of Equatorial Guinea undertook to convey South Africa’s message to his government."
Access to the detained men by both their families and South African diplomats has been restricted.