'Iraq is not our fight'

2004-10-06 14:19

Tisha Steyn

Cape Town - Johan Hattingh had been working in Iraq for less than a month when he was killed by a bomb blast in Baghdad on Monday.

On Monday, at 09:40 Baghdad time, he was on duty and sitting in a parked car in front of a Baghdad hotel with a colleague, when a suspected suicide bomber drove down the street. The bomb detonated less than 100m from where Johan was sitting.

He was killed instantly, his sister, Mariane Crawford told News24 on Wednesday.

Hattingh was a sergeant and free-fall instructor at 44 Parachute Battalion in Bloemfontein for the past ten years. A month ago, he resigned to become a protection officer for American company Dyncorp in Iraq.

Crawford said: "Dyncorp recruiter, South African Stefan Krause, called Ilze, Johan's wife in Bloemfontein with a message to call Dyncorp's Bob Lelouet in the United States."

Lelouet informed Ilze of her 29-year-old husband's death.

Crawford said: "Ilze is not taking it very well. But she is trying to cope. They have been married for four years. Their baby Caitlyn turned one in July."

Inaccurate reports

Crawford and Johan's mother Hettie and stepfather Johan Ligthelm were on their way to Bloemfontein from Pretoria on Wednesday to support their daughter-in-law and to assist with funeral arrangements.

She said: "My mom is absolutely distraught by my brother's death. And when she arrives, she will be confronted with inaccurate stories about his tragic death."

Crawford, who lives in London with her husband and two children, and will fly to South Africa on Saturday.

She said in an e-mail to News24: "Please print the truth about his (Johan's) tragic death with an apology for not verifying these details that caused severe heartache for his family."

Earlier reports stated that "a South African was believed to have been beheaded" and that he was "killed when insurgents ambushed his convoy".

Decision not taken lightly

Crawford said her brother had gone to Iraq "to provide better for his family".

She said he was one of many former South African and British soldiers who went to Iraq to earn good money. He worked as a bodyguard.

"Ilze said Johan had told her on the phone he was very well looked after. They were living in a hotel, all expenses paid."

She said her brother didn't take the decision to go to Iraq lightly. "He considered it for a very long time before he decided to go.

"Every individual has his own reasons. The reasons outweighed the risks."

A tearful Crawford said: "My brother was the most wonderful person in the world. He had so many friends. I cannot believe it had happened to him. It is just terrible."

It's not our fight

Crawford has a very clear message for other South Africans considering going to Iraq.

"Don't go out there. It's not our fight. Money is not everything - think about your family."

The South African government will fly Johan's body home later on Wednesday or on Thursday.

No funeral arrangements have been made yet.

- News24