News24.com | South Africans forced to live on verandah of SA embassy in UAE for six years

The image accompanying a petition to free Sello Tsolo from the United Arab Emirates.

• Two South African men are being held in the United Arab Emirates after they were duped into signing debt acknowledgements. 
• After serving a sentence, the men were forced to live on the verandah of the South African embassy.
• The Centre for Human Rights has complained to the United Nations for what they are calling a "hostage" situation.

The United Nations could be the last hope for two South African men duped into acknowledging massive debt in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Unable to leave the country until this "debt" is repaid, the pair have been forced to live on the veranda of the South African embassy in Abu Dhabi for the past six years.

On Monday, the Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria, submitted a complaint on behalf of Sello Tsolo and Tjoko Kambule, who they believe are being "effectively held hostage through the nation's debt laws that arguably violate international law".

In a joint statement by the entity and petition organisation Change.Org on Wednesday, the Centre for Human Rights said it had no choice but to complain to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) against the UAE.

Centre for Human Rights programme manager at the litigation and implementation unit, Foluso Adegalu, said the men went to the country for what they believed was a business trip when they were deceived into signing acknowledgements of debt.

Adegalu said the documents were written in Arabic, so the men did not know what they were signing.

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Tsolo, a former project manager for the Setsoto Local Municipality, and Kambule, a businessman, signed documents amounting to $131 600 (R2 million) and $145 425 (R2.7 million), respectively.

Unable to service these debts, the men served over two years in prison but are still barred from leaving the country until their debts are cleared.

They have also had their passports confiscated and are under a travel ban.

The complaint was sent to the UN after years of diplomatic discussions between the country and the UAE failed.

According to the statement, in June 2022, the Tsolo family met with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) after the submission of a Change.org petition by Mbothoma Maduna, the former mayor of Setsoto Local Municipality at the time of Tsolo's appointment as project manager, calling for his release.

In August, Dirco sent a delegation to the UAE to negotiate the return of both men.

The attempt failed.

Monday's complaint was signed by Professor Frans Viljoen, director of the Centre for Human Rights.

He argues that the UAE's actions "constitute a consistent pattern of severe human rights violations and arbitrary detention of Tsolo and Kambule".

According to the complaint, there is no legal basis to prevent the men from leaving the UAE, and their detention has not adhered to the principles of a fair trial.

"This detainment is unjustified due to its excessive duration, the absence of legal grounds, and the lack of a fair trial.

"Moreover, the UAE government's ongoing detention of the complainants in the absence of lawful reasons for their continued presence in the country breaches international law, including non-derogable guarantees (absolute rights, like the right to religious freedom) against arbitrary detention. 

"In the complaint, the centre requests the UNWGAD to recommend that the UAE release the complainants' immigration documents and lift the travel ban, allowing them to return to South Africa."

Adegalu added: "The absurdity is that they won't be freed until the debt is repaid, but they don't have work permits, so they can never repay the debts.

"It's almost like they are keeping them [held hostage]."