Libyan military camp flouted regulations – Minister

South Africa's Police Minister Senzo Mchunu says the alleged military camp, which Libyan nationals were conducting in the Mpumalanga province, flouted the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) regulations. Mpumalanga police on Friday arrested 95 Libyan nationals after uncovering a suspected secret military training camp operating from a farm in White River. In addition to military-grade training equipment, drugs and other contraband were discovered at the camp. The suspects will appear in the White River Magistrate's Court this week. They will face charges relating to the contravention of the Immigration Act after they entered SA with visas that were acquired through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisia. Speaking at the makeshift military camp on Saturday, Mchunu said the facility was illegal in terms of PSIRA processes. PSIRA is the body that regulates all private security activities in the country. The Mail & Guardian reports that the Minister added that what was being done at the camp was not applied for nor approved by PSIRA, saying a training of this nature, which appears to be ‘basically and fundamentally military’, raises questions about the security of the country. ‘All indications are pointing to this being more of a military training facility than an ordinary security training centre. It’s more military than security,’ he asserted. EWN reports that the Department of Home Affairs has confirmed it has cancelled the visas of the suspects. It said those arrested acquired their visas fraudulently and entered SA through Tunisia. ‘Home Affairs is working with other law enforcement authorities to look at all options, including deportation,’ said department spokesperson Siya Qoza.

The Libyan nationals are reportedly on the payroll of eastern Libyan military strongman General Khalifa Haftar, who has also been a close ally of the private Russian military company Wagner and of the Russian Government more generally. The Daily Maverick reports that Russia, and in particular, Wagner, have been very active in Libya since 2018, fighting on the side of the Libyan alternative government based in Benghazi and Tobruk which has been trying to topple the UN-backed government in Tripoli. Jalel Harchaoui, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, told DM that the SA company providing the training – named as Milites Dei Security Services (MDSS) or Milites Dei Academy – had refused to conduct the training in Libya and insisted that the 95 trainees come to White River. Harchaoui said Libya’s eastern government had implicity acknowledged its involvement when its Foreign Minister Abdul Hadi àl-Hawaij said he was following up on the Libyans detained in SA and would endeavour to provide them with legal support.