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The Democratic Alliance (DA) wishes to express our most sincere condolences to the family and friends of photographer Anton Hammerl.

It was confirmed in the early hours of this morning that Mr. Hammerl died at the hands of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan government forces on 5 April, the day he went missing. It appears, from this account, that Muammar Gaddafi’s forces specifically targeted the journalists. This is a terrible and tragic development, made all the more devastating by the fact that, for 45 days, the Libyan and South African authorities both misled Mr. Hammerl’s family on his condition.

Even now, the news only reached family members via three detained journalists, who were released into Tunisia on Thursday. Those journalists, who had been with Mr. Hammerl at the time of the incident, then contacted the family directly. The Libyan authorities would have known about Mr. Hammerl’s condition, because the other three journalists were detained by the Libyan government.

It is unclear what the South African government did or did not know. It is, however, simply unfathomable, and difficult to contemplate, that the Minister of International Relations would have given the family false hope, by claiming Mr Hammerl was still alive, last week. It is equally galling that the minister cancelled an emergency meeting on this matter because, in the words of department spokesperson, Clayson Monyela, she had “election commitments”. In the immediate aftermath of this sort of terrible news, our focus must fall on the family and friends, but profoundly serious questions need to be asked of Minister Nkoana-Mashabane, and indeed President Zuma, in the weeks to come.

We wish to convey our deep and sincere sympathies to Mr. Hammerl’s loved ones, at this moment of profound grief.