Pretoria — South Africa is in talks with officials in Sudan to secure the release of a South African man who was captured at the weekend, said the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco).
"Our ambassador is speaking to the [Sudanese] authorities. We are offering consular assistance to him," Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela said on Monday.
He said South Africa was also working jointly with other countries that have nationals who are captured in Sudan.
Thabo Siave and his South Sudanese colleague, who are employees of Denel Mechem, were participating in a United Nations humanitarian operation when they were captured.
According to media reports, Denel Mechem said the men have full diplomatic immunity because of the work they do for the UN's peacekeeping forces.
Meanwhile, authorities are waiting for details regarding the South African man who was reportedly shot and killed by his bodyguard on Friday in Somalia. The incident is said to have happened in Somalia's Puntland region.
Monyela said: "We don't know anything about it. Our mission in Kenya is looking into it."
South Africa does not have a mission in Somalia.
On Sunday, government has condemned the kidnapping of 12-year-old Nayati Shamilin Moodliar, a South African boy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
He was on his way to school when he was kidnapped on Friday.
"The South African government condemns in the strongest possible terms this act of criminality and calls on the government of Malaysia to continue with its efforts to secure the release of Nayati Moodliar and to bring the perpetrators to book," said Dirco in a statement.
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