South African Family hostage in Mali launches fresh appeal
The family of a South African held hostage by militants in Mali for over five years launched a fresh appeal for his release.
Forty-seven-year-old, Gerco van Deventer, was kidnapped in Libya on 3rd November, 2017.
“Van Deventer, an emergency paramedic who was working for a security company, is the only South African citizen held hostage by a non-state actor in the Sahel”, according to his wife, Shereen van Deventer.
The appeal takes place days after the release of French freelance journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, and 61-year-old American aid worker Jeffery Woodke respectively kidnapped in 2021 and 2016.
africanews