Two SA men die in Iraq

2004-10-13 07:21

Cindy Preller and Norman Silke

Port Elizabeth - Two men from the Eastern Cape, who worked for a security company in Iraq, were shot dead near Baghdad on Tuesday. They were the only victims of an attack on their convoy of three vehicles.

The families of Johan Botha, 37, from Framesby and Louis Campher, 43, from Despatch were devastated after hearing the news.

The two men worked for Omega Risk Solutions, a South African security company. Erika Gibson of Beeld reported they were travelling between construction sites when shots were fired at their vehicles and they were fatally wounded.

Cobus de Kock of Omega said all three vehicles came under fire, but Botha and Campher were the only ones hit.

Louis' father, Lourens Campher, said from his house in Uitenhage on Tuesday that he did not know whether his son and Botha had been friends, but they probably knew each other.

'He did not like war'

Louis, who was single, left the police in 1986 after four of his colleagues died in a bomb explosion at the former John Vorster Square.

"He was a relaxed, peace-loving person who would not have hurt a fly. He did not like war," his brother, Lourens Campher jun, said.

Louis grew up in Uitenhage and leaves his father, two brothers and two sisters.

"He saw it as a challenge to work overseas, but his heart always remained in the Eastern Cape.

The father of Johan, Johan Botha sen, said on Tuesday that he and his wife, Miems, had very little information about the circumstances surrounding his son's death.

Botha sen is the former sports editor of the defunct newspaper, Die Oosterlig.

"My son-in-law phoned me and said he had heard from Omega that Johan had been shot, but they did not want to provide more information," Botha sen said.

His son, Johan, who was in the defence force for years, matriculated at Framesby High School and was a talented athlete who represented Eastern Province when he was young.

"At the start of his career, we lay awake for nights and worried about his safety, but that type of life was his dream and we had to accept it," he explained.

When Johan left the defence force, he joined Omega and worked in Angola for a year before he was deployed in Iraq.

"Men who do this type of job do not talk about it much, we knew so little of his life," Botha sen said.

Mambas could be exported

His son was divorced from his wife, Suzette, from Despatch. He leaves a seven-month old son, JD.

No funeral arrangements have been made yet because Omega still has to arrange for the bodies to be sent to South Africa.

The attack on Tuesday, as well as the increasing number of ambushes and explosions that have claimed the lives of South Africans thus far, has forced firms to consider military armoured vehicles to protect their employees, Gibson reported.

South African-produced Mamba vehicles might be exported to Iraq soon.

Armoured sedan vehicles are currently used alongside ordinary civilian vehicles to transport important people.

- Die Burger