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Mali: Kidnapped South African Paramedic's Family Renews Calls For His Release
allAfrica, 27 March 2023
The family of Gerco van Deventer held hostage by jihadis in Mali for more than five years have launched a fresh appeal for his release, days after a French journalist was freed. Read more »
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South Africa: Wife of Hostage in Libya Pleads - 'We Need Gerco Here With Us'
News24Wire, 13 August 2019
The wife of Gerco van Deventer, the South African paramedic who has been held hostage in Libya since November 2017, has pleaded for his return, saying his family needs him. Read more »
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South Africa: 'Please, Please, Please... I Just Need to Go Home' - SA Man Held Hostage in Libya
News24Wire, 5 August 2019
Gerco van Deventer, a 43-year-old father of three children, has been held captive in Libya since 2017 and his wife and family are struggling to raise the $1.5m (about R21.9m) his… Read more »
Renewed Calls For Release of South African Man Kidnapped in Mali
The family of Gerco van Deventer held hostage by jihadis in Mali for more than five years have launched a fresh appeal for his release, days after a French journalist was freed.
Van Deventer was kidnapped in Libya on November 3, 2017, on his way to a power plant construction site about 1,000 kilometers south of the capital, Tripoli. Three Turkish engineers taken at the same time were freed seven months later, but Van Deventer remained in captivity and was moved to Mali, according to reports.
The fresh call for his release came after the alleged freeing of French freelance journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, and 61-year-old American aid worker Jeffery Woodke - kidnapped in 2021 and 2016 respectively.
There is evidence that Van Deventer is still alive according to a video, the family reposted on its "Bring Gerco Home" Facebook page making the rounds on social media, in which Van Deventer is seen pleading for release "by any means possible". In the video he is heard saying it was recorded on March 15, 2023.
