Multimillion rand superyacht seized to pay Hoekwil local

GEORGE NEWS - The playboy vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodorin Nguema Obiang, will have to bid farewell to his 67m long superyacht after it was seized to be auctioned to pay damages to Hoekwil businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg.

The yacht is believed to be worth about R300m. The yacht was seized last week in Cape Town.

Van Rensburg was imprisoned in Black Beach Prison in September 2013 on trumped-up charges after he had set up an airline in Equatorial Guinea with the president's brother-in-law, Gabriel Mba Angabi, who withdrew from the venture at the last minute and demanded a financial refund.

Obiang was the second vice-president of the country, in charge of defence and security during Van Rensburg's illegal detention. He was also the political head in charge of the armed forces, police and prisons.

The notorious prison is described by the United Nations Human Rights Watch as the worst prison in the world. It has a reputation for systematically neglecting and brutalising inmates.

Medical treatment is routinely denied and food rations are meagre.

While Janse van Rensburg was in prison, he was assaulted by fellow inmates and forced to witness many atrocities, including murder, stabbings and rape. He returned to his family in September 2015. He remained incarcerated for 491 days.

Equatorial Guinea’s vice president Teodorin Nguema Obiang.