Super-yacht, properties of Equatorial Guinea VP seized by South African court

A super-yacht and two properties belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, were seized last week by South African court that suggested the properties may be auctioned to pay a South African businessman who sued Obiang for wrongful arrest and torture after an airline deal went wrong.

South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg says he welcomes the seizure of the yacht and properties but added that the case has been going on in South Africa since 2016 because with every ruling, the vice president files an appeal. Obiang, aka Theodorin, is also the son and presumed successor to Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang, who rules the country with an iron fist. Resnburg says in 2011 he was asked by the mayor of Equatorial Guinea’s capital city to set up a private airline for the central African nation. Rensburg explains that after two years of working on the project, the mayor called the deal off and said he wanted his money back.

“And that is when (the mayor) phoned Teodorin junior, he was at that time the minister of security and in charge of the jail. So, he got authorization from him to put me into Black Beach,” he said, referring to infamous jail in Equatorial Guinea where the South African businessman spent nearly two years. Rensburg has published a book about life in prison called Black Beach that he described as overcrowded, filthy and a breeding ground for diseases. Eventually, the lawyer of a fellow inmate got Rensburg out. When back in South Africa, he opened the case in 2016. Although Obiang’s lawyers are trying to block the auction of the properties and the super-yacht, Rensburg says he hopes this is the end. Equatorial Guinea’s government has not yet commented on the seizure of the vice president’s properties.