Johnathan Paoli
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has condemned the recently discovered military camp as non-compliant, and the 95 Libyan nationals found there as having entered the country illegally.
Mchunu held a media briefing on Saturday afternoon, following the discovery of the camp in White River, Mpumalanga.
The 95 Libyan nationals were arrested on Friday morning and found in possession of firearms, military equipment, drugs and visas, acquired through misrepresentation in Tunisia, it is alleged.
The site was reportedly a private property intended for use as a training facility for security guards, and containing both a gym and a shooting range.
“The facility here is legal but under further scrutiny what is going on here is not compliant. There is a gap between what has been applied for and what is going on here,” Mchunu said, adding that there was a significant divergence between the certificate issued for the intended purposes of the property, and its actual use.
“All indications here are pointing to this being more of a military training facility than an ordinary security training centre,” Mchunu said.
National Police Commissioner Sehlahle Masemola said the firearms found did not appear to have been used.
“It is a certified training service provider and the weapons are legal for training, but there is no evidence that these weapons were used at all,” Masemola said.
Mchunu said the foreign nationals were currently in police custody, and that the owner would be arrested if implicated in ongoing investigations and that discussions with officials from the Libyan government would proceed in the coming days, and in light of their illegal visa, deportation was a high priority.
“There are indications that the Libyan government may want to talk to South Africa about this, but we are not there yet. These may be confined to the presidency,” he said.
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