The family of Gerco van Deventer held hostage by jihadis in Mali for more than five years have launched a fresh appeal for his release, days after a French journalist was freed.

The 43-year-old was kidnapped in Libya on November 3, 2017, on his way to a power plant construction site about 1,000 kilometers south of the capital, Tripoli. Three Turkish engineers seized at the same time were freed seven months later, but Van Deventer remained in captivity and was moved to Mali, according to reports.

africanews reports that Van Deventer, an emergency paramedic who was working for a security company, is the only South African citizen held hostage by a non-state actor in the Sahel, according to his wife.

The fresh call for his release came after the alleged freeing of French freelance journalist Olivier Dubois, 48, and 61-year-old American aid worker Jeffery Woodke - kidnapped in 2021 and 2016 respectively.

According to Jacaranda FM, Imtiaz Sooliman, head of South African charity, Gift of the Givers, which is also involved in mediation for his release, told AFP that a negotiator would be travelling to Mali in the next few days "to appeal to the kidnappers". The charity helped in efforts to secure the 2017 release of Stephen McGown, another South Africa held by Al-Qaeda in Mali for nearly six years.

The Sahel has been ravaged by a jihadist campaign that began in northern Mali in 2012, sweeping over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger in 2015. Kidnappings of locals and foreigners are common, AFP reports.

There is evidence that Van Deventer is still alive according to a video, the family reposted on its "Bring Gerco Home" Facebook page making the rounds on social media, in which van Deventer is seen pleading for release "by any means possible". In the video he is heard saying it was recorded on March 15, reports Jacaranda FM.