Gift of the Givers sends negotiator to secure Gerco van Deventer’s safe return
Local NGO Gift of the Givers has dispatched a hostage negotiator to Mali to facilitate the release of a South African who has been held hostage for over six years.
Gerco van Deventer, a paramedic from Swellendam, was initially abducted alongside three Turkish men in Libya in November 2017. His family recently learnt he had been sold and was now being held in Mali. Gift of the Givers has been assisting the family in arranging for Van Deventer’s safe return.
According to the organisation’s founder, Dr. Imtiaaz Sooliman, negotiations have taken place to pay R500 000 for his release, but it is possible that he could be freed without payment. Sooliman reported the negotiator had already made contact with previous contacts in Mali.
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Opportunity
In a video sent from Gerco van Deventer’s captors in January, he pleaded for help and to be released. The captors demanded a ransom of $500 000 (R11.4 million), money which Sooliman said the family did not have.
Sooliman was hoping it would be possible to secure van Deventer’s return to his family before the end of Ramadan, which is in ten days.
Speaking about the decision to send negotiator Yahya Dicko, he said they had decided to “do it now in Ramadan, while we can. We quickly made a video, we sent it across last week, if something can just strike them in the next ten days and they say, ‘okay you can go’”.
“After Ramadan, it’s going to be very difficult,” he said.
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Wellbeing
Judging from the video, Sooliman believed Gerco van Deventer was in good physical condition. But he was likely to have been affected mentally, he said.
“His physical state is fine. We know Al-Qaeda treats its hostages well. They will not harm, shoot or torture you unless you attack them or you get caught in a skirmish if somebody else is fighting with them.”
About his mental health, Sooliman said, “Obviously, in that situation … You miss your family, you miss your work [and you’re concerned about] how your wife is surviving, how your children are surviving.”
He added van Deventer was able to tune in to three international radio stations while being held captive.
“He’s allowed to listen to the radio. He listens to BBC, Voice of America and Radio France International. That’s the first time I’ve heard [of this] in all the years of this hostage business. They’re generally good to you because you’re a commodity. You’re worth a lot of money, so they take good care of you.”
