Family of South African hostage held in Mali launches fresh appeal

The family of a South African held hostage by jihadists in Mali for over five years launched a fresh appeal for his release on Saturday.

Forty-seven year old, Gerco van Deventer, was kidnapped in Libya on November 3, 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.