Former jungle jail inmate wants dictator’s homes

A SOUTH African father who was illegally jailed in Equatorial Guinea has won a high court order to attach two multi-million homes belonging to the “de facto head of state” of the oil-rich country.

Daniel Janse van Rensburg this week obtained the order involving an estate in Bishopscourt, Cape Town, and a dilapidated Clifton bungalow belonging to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, known as Teodorin.

The properties, valued at over R50-million, were attached to cover a civil suit the 49-year- old intends bringing against Teodorin.

In an affidavit, Janse van Rensburg described Teodorin as the de facto head of state in view of his father’s age and illness. His father, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mbasogo, has ruled since 1979.

Janse van Rensburg accused Teodorin of being responsible for his extended incarceration. He arrived home in September after being repeatedly released, only for Equatorial Guinea’s security forces to rearrest him at the airport. He had been held without being charged since December 2013.

The nightmare he endured over in the nearly two-year period in detention without trial has resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder and a range of medical conditions.

“I was incarcerated for 423 days at the notorious Black Beach prison in Malabo . . . I was also kept in a house for 126 days,” Janse van Rensburg said in an affidavit filed in support of his ex parte application before the High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday.

He was held despite a judge initially ordering his release as there were no charges against him. Several official undertakings to allow him to return home were not honoured.

He said he was detained “on the order” of Teodorin.

He had no choice but to sue Teodorin in South Africa because courts in Equatorial Guinea would neither entertain nor enforce such proceedings against him, he said.

The court granted the attachment order and gave Teodorin until February to show why it should not be made final. The Registrar of Deeds was ordered to capture the order.

Advocate Danie Nel, acting for Teodorin, said his client had no knowledge of the case. While this prevented him from commenting, Nel said, this should not be construed as an admission. His client reserved his rights, he added.

Janse van Rensburg travelled to Equatorial Guinea for a business deal with Teodorin’s uncle, Gabriel Mba Bela, who had sought to buy two aircraft.

I was incarcerated for 423 days at the notorious Black Beach prison