Al-Qaeda releases South Africa's longest-held hostage after six years

The announcement was made by the Non-profit organization Gift of the Givers on Sunday, December 17.

Deventer, a paramedic was captured in Lybia on November 3, 2017, and sold off to the Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) Al-Qaeda group in Mali in 2018 after his capture by a splinter group of Al-Qaeda a year before.

"He was sold to the group in Mali in 2018 and finally released unconditionally yesterday," Founder of Gift of the Givers, Imtiaz Sooliman was quoted by South African media outlet News 24.

The NGO, Gift of the Givers began negotiations with the militant group in 2018 with an initial amount of $3 million as ransom, an amount which was later beaten down to $500,000.

Gift of Givers finally received a call that Deventer had been released after years of negotiation and was in Algeria.

Algeria according to him was chosen instead of Mali because of recent tensions between factions in the country.

"He could not be released through Mali, because of the current new war between the Mali military and the Tuaregs. The man from Mauritania had requested a release via the Mauritania State Security, but they refused," Sooliman was quoted by News 24.

South Africa’s State Security Agency has confirmed that Algerian State Security made an official confirmation of Deventer’s release, indicating that he was undergoing a health review in the hospital.

He will be reunited with his wife Shereen and son after all medical checks, Sooliman further confirmed.