A Witbank family in Mpumalanga is breathing a sigh of relief after confirmation that their son, Francois van Niekerk, has been located alive after insurgents in northern Mozambique attacked the town of Palma.
Many expats, including South Africans, have been working on a massive natural gas plant in the area.
A convoy of civilians tried to escape Palma, but were ambushed by the insurgents.
At least one South African, Adrian Nel, was killed.
Francois van Niekerk’s mother Sonia battled to convey her emotions and would only say that she was extremely relieved that her son had been located. She also said that van Niekerk’s father was on his way to his son’s location.
In the wake of her son’s disappearance, she started a Facebook page: “Bring Francois Home”, appealing for support and awareness around the volatile situation in Palma, to return her son home safely.
A KwaZulu-Natal mother, whose son died in insurgency attacks in Palma in northern Mozambique, says he was shot while trying to escape to safety. 40-year-old Nel was killed on Friday, while in a getaway vehicle with his brother and father, leaving the Amarula Lodge Hotel, when he was killed in an ambush, allegedly by an Isis-linked group.
A distraught Meryl Knox from Zinkwazi, north of Durban, says that cries for help from South Africans, who are stranded in the volatile Palma town in Cabo Delgado province, in northern Mozambique, have fallen on deaf ears.
Adrian Nel killed during an attack in Mozambique, mother shares account:
Knox’s son was killed while in a getaway convoy with his father and younger brother.
She explains that she had been alerted that they were at risk on Wednesday last week.
“I then tried to contact all their cellphones and no response. I started to panic. Then eventually, at about 9 o’clock that night, my husband got hold of me via satellite phone to tell me they were in the Amarula Hotel because Palma was being attacked. I knew on Friday these guys were going to try and make a run for it because these guys were under attack.”
South Africa reinforcing its mission in Mozambique in the wake of attacks there:
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