‘Korkie’s health is a grave risk’

South African Pierre Korkie was kidnapped in Taiz, Yemen, on May 27 last year.

South African Pierre Korkie was kidnapped in Taiz, Yemen, on May 27 last year.

Published Mar 9, 2014

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Johannesburg - Yolande Korkie, the wife of a South African man being held hostage by al-Qaeda in Yemen, has made another appeal to the captors to release her husband.

A statement on Sunday, released on behalf of Yolande and her two children by family spokesman Michael Venter, said concerns were mounting over Pierre Korkie's wellbeing.

“His health is a grave risk, and without communication with the kidnappers, his safety is an unknown.”

“Yolande pleads with the captors to release Pierre, or to engage Gift of the Givers or the family directly with a view to come to an agreement about Pierre's release,” said Venter.

He said Yolande thanked South Africans for their involvement in several efforts aimed at securing his release.

Last month, Yolande made a video appeal to the captors.

In a video released by the Gift of the Givers, Yolande, sitting on a couch with her son and daughter, greets the kidnappers in Arabic and pleads with them to release her husband just as they had released her.

She and her daughter had their heads covered in scarves.

“Pierre is an innocent and honest person who served the poor people through his teaching. My two children and I miss him terribly, he was just an ordinary man from South Africa,” she says.

She said her husband was seriously ill and would not survive captivity. “A South African doctor's report can be made available to you, should you wish to see it,” she said.

She said his condition could lead to his death.

Al-Qaeda militants kidnapped Korkie and his wife Yolande in Taiz, Yemen, on May 27 last year. She was released and returned to South Africa on January 13.

The Gift of the Givers helped negotiate Yolande Korkie's release. - Sapa

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