A Long-Awaited Homecoming: South African Engineers Released from Detention in Equatorial Guinea
After an agonizing 28-month ordeal, South African engineers Peter Shane Huxham and Frederic Potgieter are finally free. The duo, who were detained in Equatorial Guinea since February 9, 2023, on controversial drug-related charges, returned home on June 21, 2025. Their release follows a historic presidential pardon issued by Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo on June 7, 2025, marking the end of a protracted legal and diplomatic struggle.
The engineers, both employees of global oil and gas giant SBM Offshore, had been sentenced to 12 years in prison after a trial that their families and employer quickly denounced as unjust. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention also weighed in, deeming their imprisonment unlawful in July 2024, citing severe violations of international human rights norms.
For over two years, Huxham and Potgieter’s families, alongside South Africa’s government, insisted that the charges against them were fabricated, potentially as retaliation for South Africa’s seizure of assets linked to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. The families’ determination, combined with relentless diplomatic efforts from South Africa’s Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola and former Minister Naledi Pandor, played a crucial role in securing the engineers’ release.
“We are relieved and grateful,” a spokesperson for the family shared, celebrating the engineers’ safe return to their homeland.
Their homecoming is not just a personal victory for Huxham and Potgieter, but a significant triumph for diplomacy and justice. As the world watches, this case underscores the power of international human rights advocacy and the tireless work of diplomats in securing freedom for those unjustly detained.
