Iraq: More SA men will die

2004-10-13 16:01

Pretoria - Any person in Iraq runs a very high risk of being killed, said the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Pretoria on Wednesday.

Responding to the death of two more South Africans who were gunned down on Tuesday in a roadside attack on their convoy, ISS analyst Henri Boshoff said more deaths should be expected.

"Any person working in Iraq runs a high risk of being killed because of the intensity (of militants) to derail the election," Boshoff said.

He agreed with US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld's view that as the election date drew near, violence would escalate.

"They (militants) don't want people to elect a government because that would mean the people recognise the process," Boshoff said.

With this in mind Boshoff felt that the "grey area" regarding the legality of South Africans working for security companies in Iraq should be addressed by the South African government.

"The (Regulation of) Foreign Military Assistance Act does not expressly prohibit security companies working in other countries as it does with mercenaries but it also does not condone it. I believe that if the government feels it is legal then deployment of South Africans in Iraq should be co-ordinated," he said.

Describing Iraq as a very dangerous and hostile area, Boshoff said the people hired to protect others would be the natural target of militants bent on thwarting the reconstruction process.

The foreign affairs department confirmed on Wednesday that two more South Africans had been killed in Iraq, bringing the number of South African killed there this year to 11.

Foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said the government was still trying to gather details concerning the attack but declared that the two men had been employed by Omega Risk Solutions, Iraq.

Only two killed in convoy

Omega Risk Solutions' West African and Middle East manager, Cobus de Kock, said Johan Botha, 37, and Louis Campher, 43 were killed in an attack at 06:30 South African time on Tuesday while travelling from one construction sight to another, 11km south of Baghdad.

"Botha and Campher were the only two men killed when their convoy came under fire," he said.

He said the men were security managers for the company.

De Kock explained that Omega protected construction workers rebuilding in war-torn Iraq.

Refusing to say exactly how many South Africans were working for Omega in Iraq, De Kock said it was a "significant number".

He said construction workers were regularly attacked by militants and it was their job to protect them. Their specialised vehicles were all unmarked as it was advisable to keep as low a profile in Iraq as possible.

Botha, a former soldier of 121 Battalion in Piet Retief joined Omega on September 15 this year after working for in the security industry in Angola. Campher, a former policeman, joined the company on August 1.

De Kock said arrangements had been made for their bodies to be flown back to South Africa.

Foreign Affairs estimated that over 4 000 South Africans were currently employed in Iraq.

- SAPA