Pretoria - The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) has confirmed that the two tourists kidnapped in Yemen on Monday are South Africans.
The department is now trying to ensure that the couple is freed quickly.
“Dirco can now confirm the kidnapped pair in Yemen are South Africans. Officials are intervening... to engage all role players,” said Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela.
The pair was kidnapped in Yemen's central province of Taiz on Monday by unknown gunmen in front of a hotel in the town of Howban, about 250km south of the capital Sanaa.
Foreigners are frequently kidnapped in Yemen by al-Qaida militants or tribesmen, who ask for ransoms for the release of their prisoners. Most of the kidnapped have been freed unharmed. - SAnews.gov.za
