A grandchild’s jelly bean gift that won’t be delivered

Madison Hopley, 10, was getting excited about welcoming her grandfather Peter Huxham home with a gift of jelly beans — a tradition when he returns from a stint on an offshore oil rig in Equatorial Guinea.

This time he never arrived.

Instead of flying home to hugs from Madison, Huxham, 55, and a colleague were arrested in a hotel in the capital Malabo and thrown into the  notorious Black Beach prison.

They were detained on February 9, two days after a R300m superyacht was attached in Cape Town by South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg, who has won a R40m damages claim against Equatorial Guinea’s vice-president Teodorin Obiang over his incarceration in the same prison. 

Huxham’s partner Kathy McConnachie told the Sunday Times the family was told this week the men had been moved to a prison in the remote eastern city of Mongomo. She has not been allowed telephone contact with Huxham. 

There is little clarity on the alleged drug crime that has been pinned on Huxham and his colleague, Frederic Potgieter, 53, from George.

State media reports from the oil-rich West African country claim the pair were linked to cocaine.

Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the department of international relations & co-operation, said South African embassy officials visited the men and they were yet to be formally charged.

The yacht Blue Shadow was seized as part of the legal battle between Janse van Rensburg and Obiang. The South African, who spent more than  400 days in Black Beach prison almost a decade ago, has been fighting for justice ever since, accusing Obiang of orchestrating his prison ordeal after a business transaction went sour.

Janse van Rensburg won his damages claim in 2021. 

The Sunday Times was unable to reach the Equatorial Guinea embassy in South Africa. However a Twitter account purporting to be that of the vice-president railed against the attachment of the superyacht.

“Equatorial Guinea is studying the possibility of closing its air and maritime space for any plane or ship ...  that wants to enter or leave South Africa, as the first of the package of measures that we have to respond to your resistance to return the ship to us,” said a tweet on February 19.

Black Beach is like walking around in a living nightmare, where everything you’ve ever feared unfolds before your eyes and you are powerless to escape

—  Daniel Janse van Rensburg

Now, in a fresh twist, Janse van Rensburg has relinquished his claim to the Blue Shadow, saying he did not want to be the possible cause of Huxham and Potgieter’s incarceration. 

“Being incarcerated in Black Beach is like walking around in a living nightmare, where everything you’ve ever feared in your life unfolds before your very eyes and you are powerless to escape,” he said on Friday.

Cape Town sheriff Aron Ngesi and V&A Waterfront spokesperson Donald Kau confirmed the release of the yacht.

Huxham and Potgieter are employed by the same Dutch company. Huxham has worked in Equatorial Guinea for about eight years, on five-week rotations.

Diplomatic envoys who visited them reported that they “did not express any dissatisfaction regarding the treatment they received”.