Kidnapped South African mine worker freed in DR Congo: media

A South African mine worker kidnapped in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been freed more than a month after he was snatched by an armed group in the country’s restive east, local media reported on Thursday.

The South African, working for an affiliate of Canadian miner Banro, was taken on July 26 along with a Zimbabwean and two locals after they were ambushed. The other three were freed last month.

“He is a little tired, but he being supported by the Namoya Mining Company,” Maniema province Governor Auguy Musafiri, told the news site news.cd, to confirm the release.

Namoya Mining is a subsidiary of Banro, a Canadian company that operates two gold mines in the provinces of South Kivu and Maniema.

There was no immediate statement released from the company.

New York and Toronto-listed Banro’s two mines in the DR Congo’s east have been troubled by illegal miners and armed groups operating there.

A Frenchman working for Banro was kidnapped in March 2017 but later freed. The company stopped operations that year at a third mine after a deadly attack.

Dozens of militias operate in the North and South Kivu provinces of DRC, a vast country the size of western continental Europe.