News and events

SA condemns violence aimed at civilians

20 September 2012

The South African government has strongly condemned the use of violence, particularly violence that targeted innocent civilians, following the deaths of eight South Africans in a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Tuesday.

The bombing, which also killed four other people, was apparently in retaliation for an anti-Islam film made privately in the US and posted on the internet last week.

Releasing the names of the eight South Africans on Wednesday, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said the government once again expressed its deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased.

"The South African government believes in peaceful means to settle disputes and/or conflicts, and we strongly condemn the use of violence, particularly violence targeted at innocent civilians," the department said in a statement.

The department is busy rendering consular assistance to all eight families.

The victims were aged between 30 and 65 and came from different provinces across South Africa, while one had dual SA-British citizenship and was based in Scotland.

The department said it consulted with the families "and hereby releases their names with permission":

Christian Johannes Justus Pretorius (30) from Pretoria, Gauteng
Fraser Angus Carey (31) from Johannesburg, Gauteng
Brandon Quinn Booth (47) from Balgowan, KwaZulu-Natal
Johan Abraham van Huyssteen (31) from Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape
Johan Frederick Bouchaud (30) from Johannesburg, Gauteng
Johannes Judenis Humphries (65) from Centurion, Gauteng
Steven Leong (31) from Johannesburg, Gauteng
Jenny Margaret Ayris (46) from Scotland, United Kingdom

The eight had been employed by a private aviation company to work in Afghanistan. The department said it was working with the company, as well as with Afghan authorities, in making arrangements for the repatriation of the remains of the deceased.

Source: SANews.gov.za