'We have hope'

2003-06-18 12:49

Johannesburg - South Africa is co-ordinating with four countries in a search for two South Africans whose private aircraft disappeared in east Africa a week ago, the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Pilots Jaco du Plessis and Lourens Louw were scheduled to land at Mfue airport in Zambia on Thursday after departing from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, about 1 000km away. They never reached their destination.

"He (Jaco) knows the bush very well and can survive for up to six months in it," Jaco's father, Gerrie du Plessis, told the Johannesburg-based Star newspaper.

"I believe that if nobody has seen it (the aircraft), it's sort of a good sign and could be an indication that there hasn't been a crash yet. It's a difficult time, but we still believe...we have hope."

Foreign ministry spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said Zambian and Malawian authorities were trying to trace the pilots.

The Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority is reported to have engaged four aircraft, including two helicopters, to help in the search.

"The South African mission in Tanzania is in constant contact with the governments of the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Malawi and Zambia for any further information that can be obtained," Mamoepa said in a statement.

The pilots left South Africa on June 9 on a business trip. Du Plessis runs a safari business and frequently visits the Selous Game reserve in southern Tanzania for hunting expeditions.

- AFX