SA man recounts stay in China jail after visa arrest

Marnus Matthysen, 31, a South African based in Pretoria, who just last month returned home after being held in a Chinese detention centre for five weeks has told the Daily Dispatch of his experience.

He was speaking while another detention drama is playing itself out in China. East London teen Tristan-Lee Niemand has been held in a Chinese detention centre for almost a month, and according to family, she has yet to see anyone from the South African government.

Niemand, 19, had never left SA before boarding a plane to China last month. She was arrested, allegedly for having the incorrect visa to teach English in the Chinese city of Nanjing and will be appearing in court to apply for bail soon.

Matthysen was arrested after four months of teaching when it was found out that his recruiter, unbeknown to him, faked a bachelor’s degree to obtain his work visa.

After a knock on his door one morning he said he and four other South African teachers were taken to a police station for questioning before being transferred to a detention centre.

Here Marnus spent five weeks living in a cell, five by 10 metres, with 18-20 other detainees all serving sentences for various non-serious crimes.

“The cell was clean as we were made to clean it regularly after meals,” he said, adding that the occupants had to remain in the cell all day. He only left it twice during his entire month-long stay for warm showers.

According to the former teacher, strict rules had to be followed and this led to an almost bootcamp-like atmosphere.

Matthysen said that while it was scary to be in a foreign jail he was well treated, receiving three meals a day and no abuse.

He said both the guards and prisoners were friendly.

He said in his second week he was visited by the South African embassy, in the third week he was questioned by police from the arresting police station and given a release date.