If he was looking for a quiet stopover he picked the wrong port.
A R1.5bn superyacht — reportedly owned by Equatorial Guinea Vice-President Teodoro (“Teodorin”) Obiang Mangue — this week sailed into a gathering storm in Cape Town, where liquidators are hovering over Obiang’s South African assets.
The 76m, 12-guest Ebony Shine looked strangely out of place this week alongside a giant container vessel at E-berth in front of the cruise terminal. She left on schedule on Wednesday, shortly after the Sunday Times started making inquiries.
The vessel has twice been arrested — and released — in recent years as lawyers battle to attach Obiang’s assets in relation to an embezzlement case and an Interpol arrest warrant validated by the International Court of Justice, according to media reports.
In SA he faces a R75m civil claim from a businessman who spent two years in an Equatorial Guinea prison after falling out with Obiang over a business deal.
Jet-setting Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has amassed cars, mansions and other luxury items amid widespread poverty in his country.
Maritime websites list Obiang as the owner of Ebony Shine and the even larger 90m Ice. But Swiss authorities had to relinquish Ebony Shine last year after it was argued the vessels belonged not to Obiang but to the Malabo government.
Shipping agency Del, which is handling the vessel’s affairs in Cape Town, declined to identify its owner due to a confidentiality agreement. Transnet National Ports Authority referred queries to Del.
A vessel-tracking website showed the yacht left the Equatorial Guinea port of Luba on July 1 and arrived in Cape Town last Sunday. A maritime source said it was “here for a technical stop and supply stop”. It was last seen heading east along the Cape south coast.
It is unclear whether Ebony Shine will call at other South African ports. If she does she may become marooned in the legal showdown between Obiang and Daniel Janse van Rensburg, who is suing the vice-president for physical and psychological damages suffered during his Black Beach prison ordeal, in a case that is finally heading to court after several years of legal jousting.
In 2017, the businessman’s lawyers obtained an attachment order against Obiang’s R20m Clifton bungalow. Earlier this year the Constitutional Court upheld the order, and Obiang now has a R1.14m costs order to add to his legal invoice.
Janse van Rensburg’s legal team are eyeing Ebony Shine if Obiang fails to pay the costs. “If he does not pay, we will attach additional property of his. Hopefully the Ebony Shine will still be in Cape Town then,” said spokesperson Errol Elsdon earlier this week.
“The Obiang matter is still very much alive, despite Obiang’s attempts to prevent the matter going to trial. He has adopted the Stalingrad tactic whereby he attempts to frustrate the entire legal process.”
Henno Bothma, Obiang’s South African lawyer in the attachment matter, said he did not know who owned Ebony Shine but denied the vessel could be attached during its stay. “Any attempts to have the vessel attached would be superfluous, as the court has already declared that the items currently under attachment are sufficient to found jurisdiction,” Bothma said.
He said costs were being finalised in the attachment order case and Obiang intended to defend the civil lawsuit.
In court papers, Janse van Rensburg has described how he was held in Equatorial Guinea for 423 days after an aviation deal turned sour. He said he was tortured and humiliated. He also contracted typhoid‚ malaria and hepatitis‚ which nearly killed him.
Obiang bought the Clifton property‚ which overlooks Fourth Beach‚ for R23.5m in 2013 and spent R26m on a house in Bishopscourt‚ according to court papers. During the attachment application, Obiang brandished his diplomatic immunity in a bid to have the lawsuit quashed‚ and denied any involvement in Janse van Rensburg’s arrest.
He swore in a statement that he had spent millions of rands upgrading his Cape Town properties‚ but they had stood empty since he bought them.
“Both properties are empty and unfurnished. If and when I travel to the Republic of South Africa for any reason whatsoever‚ I do not stay in any of the two properties. For obvious security protocols and reasons I cannot disclose where I do stay when I am in South Africa.”
Assets that have featured in Obiang court proceedings include a Parisian mansion worth about $100m (R1.7bn), 25 sports cars including a rare Lamborghini, and a collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
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