Families of detained South African engineers call for their release from E. Guinea
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00:00The relationship between Pretoria and Malabo is close to breaking point,
00:04as the impasse stretches out toward the 18-month mark.
00:07South African engineers Pieter Haksim and Frederik Potgieter were arrested in February 2023 in
00:13Equatorial Guinea and sentenced to 12 years in prison for drug trafficking. They say they're
00:18innocent. In a note published earlier this month, a United Nations working group on arbitrary
00:24detentions said their arrest had no legal basis. While in South Africa, the men's families are
00:29doing everything in their power to ensure the two prisoners are not forgotten, and recently held a
00:35demonstration in front of the Pan-African Parliament. Pieter Haksim's partner Cathy
00:39has been waiting for him for more than 500 days and adds a small label to her calendar every day.
00:47Yeah, no, we haven't had any word in three months on their health or their well-being,
00:53and we're busy with a letter to Cyril Ramaphosa, our president, and we hope, we know South Africa
01:03have got the power to help us. It's a political case, so it's in their power to help us.
01:12Just two days before the South Africans were arrested, the luxury villas of the
01:16Obiang family were seized in Cape Town to pay off the debts of the president's son.
01:20Many are convinced that the two events are linked. Former South African Minister of
01:25International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pando had visited Malabo in May this year to
01:30try and resolve the situation. The new South African government is promising to make every
01:35effort to free the men. However, requests for comment from the authorities in Equatorial Guinea
01:40have been met with silence.