Two South African engineers detained in Equatorial Guinea for more than two years have been released following a presidential pardon, bringing an end to a protracted diplomatic standoff that had strained relations between the two countries.
Peter Shane Huxham and Frederic Potgieter, both employed in the offshore oil and gas sector, were arrested in Malabo in February 2023 while preparing to return home after a work rotation.
They were later convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 12 years in prison along with fines exceeding R100 million (about $5.6 million). Both men denied the charges.
Their release was confirmed on Sunday by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), which expressed “sincere gratitude” to Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for granting clemency.
“South Africa expresses its sincere gratitude to the Government of Equatorial Guinea for considering and ultimately granting this Presidential pardon, allowing Mr Huxham and Mr Potgieter to return home to their loved ones,” DIRCO said in a statement.
The South African government had maintained sustained diplomatic pressure, including dispatching special envoys and appealing for clemency on humanitarian grounds.
The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had also declared their imprisonment unlawful in 2024 and called for their immediate release.
The engineers’ employer, SBM Offshore, along with civil society groups and thousands of supporters worldwide, played a key role in advocating for their freedom.
Upon arrival in South Africa, the men were welcomed by Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola and received a call from President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The arrests came just days after a South African court ordered the seizure of luxury assets belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, in an unrelated legal dispute.
While Equatorial Guinea never officially linked the engineers’ detention to the asset seizure, the timing raised suspicions of political retaliation.
JN/APA