S Africans detained in Ghana
2009-04-28 09:59
Port Elizabeth - While South Africans celebrated Freedom Day on Monday, a PE family was anxiously waiting for the guarantee of freedom for a beloved family member.
Marcelle Mostert, 30, of Port Elizabeth is one of about 15 South Africans working for Venture Communications who are practically under house arrest after they were arrested on Friday morning in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
They were held for the day in a cell where they sat on the concrete floor as the mattresses were very dirty, and were released at about 19:00.
His father, Helgard Mostert of Uitenhage, has not been able to obtain much more information about his son's situation.
The group went to Ghana for work and according to Mostert's family, have still not been given back their passports, which were taken by the Ghanaian police when they were arrested. They were forbidden from working.
They suspect that there was a misunderstanding about the group's visas.
SA Consulate helping
Although the family heard that the South African Consulate was helping the group, they had not received further feedback from Venture Communications or the South African government by late on Monday.
"We received a short e-mail from him (Marcelle) to say that he was okay, but they had to again report on Tuesday morning to police officers," said Mostert snr.
Marcelle, who had worked for Venture Communications in Madagascar for the previous two years, went to Ghana last week. The company is building cellphone towers in African countries.
"They were arrested at their accommodation in Accra on Friday morning. When I finally asked him over the phone on Saturday if they were at least treating him well, he started crying," said his father.
"That, and the fact that he didn't really want to talk about what had happened, says to me there is a big problem. Why weren't they simply deported on Friday? The uncertainty and the little information is excruciating.
"My first thought was that the government there thought that they might perhaps be mercenaries, but Marcelle didn't even do military service," he said.
Others feared arrest
Marcelle's wife, Juanita, 27, was rather relieved after she received the e-mail on Monday. "As long as he is able to get away. He can stay at home too. It would be fine by me."
Marcelle's uncle, Dewald Mostert, who worked for the same company, and a group of colleagues reported to the South African Consulate in Ghana on Friday as soon as they heard of the sudden arrests, fearing that they too might be arrested.
Attempts by Die Burger on Monday to contact the Ghanaian Consulate, were unsuccessful.
Ronnie Mamoepa, spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs, said on Monday said serious attention would be given to the matter on Tuesday.