South Africa said yesterday it would deport as soon as possible 95 Libyans arrested at a camp being investigated for running military-style training in violation of regulations.
The men were arrested on Friday in a raid at the remote camp in the northeastern province of Mpumalanga that borders Mozambique and Eswatini.
Police said the Libyans entered South Africa in April on visas issued for instruction as security guards. However, police suspected they were receiving military training.
The Home Affairs department said the visas had been “irregularly acquired” in the Tunisian capital, Tunis, and based on “misrepresentation”. They had been cancelled and the men faced deportation.
“It’s clear to us that their being here is illegal...We would want them to be out if the country as soon as possible but we will follow due process,” national police minister Senzo Mchunu told reporters.
A sign leading to the facility outside of White River, about 360 kilometres east of Johannesburg, describes it as an academy offering “specialised security training”.
It was registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) but appeared to have gone beyond the brief of training for security guards, Mchunu said. “All indications are pointing to this being more of a military training facility than an ordinary security training centre,” he said.
“If you like, (it is) wholly military and less, or partially, security.”
Television footage of the camp showed military-style tents but the arrested men were in civilian clothes.
Weapons found at the camp were all legal, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola told reporters.
However, questions had to be answered about training “which appears to be basically and fundamentally military,” Mchunu said.
South Africa has a huge private security industry that includes training. There are more than 15,000 security firms employing about 2.8mn guards, providing armed response and training services, according to PSIRA.
Police have said the owner of the security company that runs the facility is a South African national. He was not under arrest yesterday but was under investigation, they said.
Most of the detained Libyans did not speak English and it was not immediately clear whether they were affiliated to any group.
Libya has struggled with years of unrest since the 2011 overthrow of long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi. It is split between a UN-recognised government in Tripoli and the rival administration backed by strongman Khalifa Haftar in the east.
Rival factions are known to have sought security training with private companies abroad to create elite military units, said Jalel Harchaoui, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in Britain, told AFP.
He pointed to a recent The Irish Times report saying an Irish firm was paid to train Haftar’s forces.