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Kidnap couple’s family devastated

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The family of a South African couple held captive by kidnappers in Yemen are devastated by the lack of updates.

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Cape Town - The family of a South African couple held captive by kidnappers in Yemen are devastated by the lack of updates from the Middle Eastern country.

It has been nearly a week since Pierre and Yolande Korkie of Bloemfontein were kidnapped in the city of Taiz.

Today family spokesman Michael Venter said they were none the wiser about the captors’ identity, the reason for the kidnapping or the conditions in which they were being held. Suggestions in the Yemeni press last week that the couple were involved in a land dispute relating to the development of a hotel were met with bemusement by the Korkie’s relatives in Port Elizabeth.

“Pierre has been teaching English in Yemen for three years. His wife was not employed in the country. The family has no knowledge of any involvement in construction developments or land issues in Yemen,” said Venter.

Department of International Relations and Co-operation’s spokesman Nelson Kgwete said the department was in daily contact with Yemini authories, but was dependent on Yemeni to secure the release of the Korkies.

“We do not have a diplomatic mission in Yemen and are working through our ambassador in Saudi Arabia (Mogamat Jaffer),” Kgwete said. It is understood Jaffer is not in Yemen but communicating with Yemeni authorities from Saudi Arabia. This means South Africa has no personnel working on the kidnapping in Yemen.

 

The Cape Argus approached the Institute for Security Studies for comment, but Monique de Graaff, programme administrator for the Transnational Threats and International Crime Division, said it could not give meaningful analysis without knowledge of the kidnappers’ identity and motivation.

The Korkies were teachers in Bloemfontein.

One former pupil, Olympian Ryk Neethling, expressed concern on his Twitter feed on Monday.

Cape Argus


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