Consul-General in Dubai, Andrew Lebona. (Facebook/Andrew Tsepo Lebona)
- The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has recalled its Consul-General in Dubai.
- He is accused of security breaches and misconduct.
- The department said it would also pursue solutions with Equatorial Guinea, where two South African engineers have been in jail since February 2023.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has recalled its Consul-General in Dubai, Andrew Lebona, amid allegations of security breaches and misconduct.
In a media briefing on Monday, the department said it had “acted on information from whistleblowers” and recalled Lebona “from Dubai to Pretoria to respond to the preliminary investigation findings”.
“The investigation is still ongoing,” Dirco said.
Lebona’s recall follows a Sunday Times report of an alleged visa scam at the Dubai Embassy.
According to the report, Lebona is accused of arranging break-ins at his offices as part of an elaborate scheme to sell visas for United Arab Emirates citizens to enter South Africa. He is also accused of several forms of misconduct, including allegedly arranging for his son to illegally obtain diplomatic travel authority.
Meanwhile, Dirco has said it was pursuing “solutions” with Equatorial Guinea over two South Africans incarcerated in Malabo.
In a media briefing, Dirco said it was “deeply concerned about the ongoing detention of its citizens”.
Meanwhile, South African engineers Peter Huxham and Frik Potgieter have been detained in Equatorial Guinea since February 2023, where they had been working for Dutch oil and gas company SBM Offshore.
Dirco said:
Last Tuesday, our ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Ambassador Nolufefe Dwabayo, met with the minister of foreign affairs in Malabo to address these concerns, emphasising the restricted access granted to our officials and the families of the detained individuals.
“Simultaneously, our acting deputy director-general for Africa summoned the ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to South Africa, and he reiterated our concerns and handed over a note verbale. The ambassador of Equatorial Guinea undertook to convey South Africa’s [concerns] to his government.”
News24 previously reported that the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation resolved to take up the cause of Huxham and Potgieter.
READ | Parliament to take up plight of two South Africans incarcerated in Equatorial Guinea
The two men were arrested after completing a five-week work rotation and were due to fly back to South Africa the day after their arrest.
Days earlier, South African authorities seized a luxury super yacht of Equatoguinean Vice-President Teddy Mangue, following the earlier seizures of his two houses in the exclusive Cape Town suburbs of Bishops Court and Clifton.
Mangue’s father, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has been Equatorial Guinea’s dictatorial president since 1979.
After a trial that has since been discredited by the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, Huxham and Potgieter were sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation chairperson Supra Mahumapelo said his office would write a letter to International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola on the matter and raise it during a meeting with the minister.
In May, former international relations minister Naledi Pandor attempted to negotiate the release of the two South Africans. She issued a statement that said engagements on the matter were ongoing.
Last month, Daily Maverick reported that Mbasogo had bluntly refused to release Huxham and Potgieter unless his son’s two properties were returned.
Ironically, the court had ordered that Mangue’s assets be attached to realise a R39-million settlement it ordered he pay to another South African businessman for wrongful imprisonment.
Daniel Janse van Rensburg was arrested and imprisoned for 423 days in Equatorial Guinea’s Black Beach prison after a business deal with Mangue, involving an airline, went sour.
