The wife of a South African man who was kidnapped in Libya nearly six years ago, says she’s hoping to be reunited with her husband soon following a proof of life video released by his kidnappers.
Gerco van Deventer was kidnapped in 2017 while working as a paramedic in Libya.
The Gift of the Givers have been trying to secure his release.
Gerco was then sold to another terrorist group and is now reportedly in Mali, being held by a group with links to Al-Qaeda.
Shereen van Deventer says it was bitter-sweet seeing the new video and that she hopes to have Gerco home soon.
“It’s a shock because he doesn’t look the same. In my mind, he’s still the man I kissed goodbye at the airport and that’s how I remember him – not as he was in the video. The videos just don’t do him justice. That makes you realise the circumstances he’s in and the conditions he might be living under. And that worries you, it worries you a lot.”
Gift of the Givers calls on Al-Qaeda to release SA paramedic Gerco van Deventer:
