Daniel Janse Van Rensburg when he returned to SA after being imprisoned for two years in Equatorial Guinea. Picture: Nokuthula Mbatha/African News Agency (ANA) Archives
Cape Town - An appeal filed by the son of one of Africa’s wealthiest leaders was on Monday heard in the Western Cape High Court.
Teodorin Nguema Obian Mangue’s lawyers argued before judges Derek Wille, Andre le Grange and Daniel Thulare regarding a judgment in which Daniel Janse van Rensburg had been awarded more than R10 million in damages for being held captive in Equatorial Guinea.
Janse van Rensburg spent 491 days imprisoned at the notorious Black Beach Prison in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, after a soured aircraft supply deal with one of Mangue’s relatives.
Following the judgment by Judge James Lekhuleni in June 2021,
Mangue’s lawyers had been served with the order but failed to act. This resulted in a back and forth regarding whether the leader had indeed been served with the notice.
On Monday, judgment was reserved by the appeal bench as they tried to find a legal basis to retrieve Mangue’s assets in Cape Town, which includes two immovable properties.
In July 2021 the BBC reported, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo enjoyed a “lavish” lifestyle in California and France.
According to UK journalists, his “lifestyle” was exposed as “embezzlement” with Mangue facing criminal charges in France, sanctions in the UK and has a “record for corruption in the US”.
In 2015, the Weekend Argus reported Janse van Rensburg had safely arrived on home soil after facing an unprecedented amount of violence in Equatorial Guinea, however, he was released from his captor’s clenched fists.
“Janse van Rensburg’s ordeal in the country involved being held in what is considered one of the world’s worst prisons, suffering various illnesses, three failed attempts at leaving and having a R1 million ransom being demanded for his release,” The Weekend Argus reported.
