South African hostage released
Six years after his kidnapping, a South African man has finally been released.
Stephen McGown was taken hostage by Al-Qaeda in Mali in 2011.
He was freed from his captors on Saturday, international relations and co-operation minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane announced at a post-cabinet briefing today.
The minister says McGown is safely back in South Africa.
Nkoana-Mashabane says South Africa does not pay ransoms.
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McGown had been abducted in November 2011 at a hostel in Timbuktu together with recently released Swedish national Johan Gustaffsson.
Gustaffsson had been released in June.