Missing South African mechanic freed after Mozambique militant attack

The mechanic was among 15 to 20 people who went missing after militants attacked a hunting camp in northern Mozambique. A 30-year-old South African man who went missing in Mozambique after an apparent attack by militants has been released from captivity unharmed. The department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco) confirmed that the man was released on Sunday, 4 October, after he had been missing since 3 September. South African mechanic released unharmed “The 30-year-old man from Phalaborwa, Limpopo Province, left Mozambique today, 7 October 2026,” Nelson Kgwete, Dirco’s media liaison director, said in a statement on Wednesday. At the time of his capture, he worked as a mechanic at a hunting camp in the Marrupa district of Niassa Province, in northern Mozambique. Kgwete said the South African High Commission in Maputo worked diligently with various stakeholders in Mozambique to render consular assistance and secure the man’s release. “The South African government extends its gratitude to the Government of Mozambique for its efforts towards the safe release of the South African national.” Militants stormed hunting camp According to information that the South African Embassy in Mozambique provided the department, a group of militants stormed the camp where the man, four other South Africans, Mozambicans and nationals from other neighbouring countries had been working. “The militants, from this information, were actually attacking the camp, as well as neighbouring communities in that part of the country in Mozambique,” Kgwete previously told SABC, shortly after the man’s disappearance. He said while the other four South Africans managed to escape, the Phalaborwa native was among 15 to 20 people who were unaccounted for. Attack also displaced local communities Kgwete said at the time that the attack also affected neighbouring communities and the motive behind it was unknown. “We understand that community members from within that region also dispersed in various directions, and some of them were displaced as a result of this attack. So, it did not only involve the people who were in the camp. “This was an attack that also affected neighbouring communities in that region, and we don’t want to reach a conclusion as to what really was the motive for this attack and who the militants are. We leave that to the Mozambican authorities to determine.” Niassa borders Cabo Delgado, a province that has been battling jihadist insurgency and violent attacks for nearly a decade. The conflict has reportedly claimed more than 6 000 deaths and left more than 1 million people displaced since October 2017. It has also spilled over to neighbouring provinces such as Niassa and Nampula.