Equatorial Guinea Vice-President in SA court action

Daniel Janse van Rensburg, who nearly died in an infamous Equatorial Guinea prison two years ago after becoming the victim of a failed business deal involving Equatorial Guinea’s playboy Vice-President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, has taken legal steps against Obiang in the Western Cape High Court. A Sunday Times report says the court has heard final argument in a case that could lead to the attachment of his South African assets in preparation for Janse van Rensburg’s R75m civil claim. That is the estimated value of Obiang’s Cape Town properties: a double-storey house in Clifton and a Bishopscourt mansion. The South African was held for 423 days in Black Beach prison in Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, after an aviation deal with one of Obiang’s family members turned sour. He said he was tortured and humiliated. He also contracted typhoid, malaria and hepatitis, which nearly caused his death. Obiang, known as Teodorin, faces charges in France, where he is accused of corruption and money laundering. The Cape Town properties are on a long list of his assets already seized or earmarked for seizure around the world. Janse van Rensburg’s lawyer, Amish Kika, said last week’s court hearing was ‘for the purpose of confirming jurisdiction for a case to be brought against Obiang in SA’. Kika disputed the claim that Obiang’s diplomatic immunity extended to his Cape Town properties.