SA paramedic Gerco van Deventer freed six years after capture by Al-Qaeda

South African Gerco van Deventer will finally be coming home after being released unconditionally on Saturday after being kidnapped in Libya six years ago, Gift of the Givers said.

Van Deventer, a paramedic, was captured in Libya on November 3, 2017 by a splinter group of Al-Qaeda before being “sold off” to the Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) Al-Qaeda group in Mali in 2018, making him the longest-held South African hostage in captivity . 

Gift of the Givers had been trying to secure his release since his capture.

“Late last night, one of the very trusted intermediaries called us to say that [Van Deventer] has been released in Algeria. He could not be released through Mali, apparently because of the current new war between the Mali military and the Tuaregs,” Gift of the Givers’ Imtiaz Sooliman said.

“South African state security confirmed last night that Algerian state security called to inform them that [Van Deventer] is freed, is with them and taken to hospital for a health review. We await the next step on his health and arrangements to bring him home to be reunited with his wife Shereen and son Asher. It has been six agonising years of prayer, patience and hope. May [he] return home soon safely,” Sooliman said.

Gift of the Givers made several attempts to negotiate for Van Deventer’s release but the Al-Qaeda group had initially requested $3m (R55.4m) for his release which was eventually negotiated down to $500,000 (R9.23m).

His family could not afford this and there was no benefactor. His employer for whom Van Deventer was about to start working also could not assist.

“Having no ransom to pay for [Van Deventer] and no further leverage, negotiations stalled and eventually with Covid-19, negotiations went cold completely until January 2023 when one of our intermediary contacts in Mali requested us to restart the process.”

Gift of the Givers however took advantage of monumental Islamic events to try to negotiate. This included Ramadan, when the organisation requested a ransom-free release as “hearts are generally softened during the fasting period”, Sooliman said.

Letters from religious leaders were also forwarded to the kidnappers and again, the period of Hajj (pilgrimage) was used to negotiate.

While a request by Gift of the Givers to provide aid during the Morocco earthquake was denied, it drew a response from the captives who have links with the country.

“Through the intermediaries, we received an indirect message of appreciation. We used that moment to request unconditional release once again. Then with our intervention in Gaza, one of the chief intermediaries in Mali with whom we have a relationship since 2015, requested the video messages from the family, the public and private ones ... On December 5 we received a call from someone in Mauritania who said they were working on the release. We don't know the person, have never had contact with him previously,” Sooliman said.

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