By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu with other police top officials visited illegal camp were 95 Libyans were arrested for running military-style training in White River, Mpumalanga.
The men were arrested on Friday in a raid at the remote camp in 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, “Mchunu told reporters.
A sign leading to the facility outside of White River, about 360 kilometres (220 miles) 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.
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.
In a statement on Saturday, home affairs minister Leon Schreiber said they had already cancelled the irregularly acquired visas and were working with other law enforcement authorities to look at all options – including deportation.
Following a major joint operation by home affairs, SA Police Service and other law enforcement authorities, the department is on the ground ensuring that anyone who breached immigration laws is processed through the court. Respect our laws, or there will be consequences, ” said Schreiber.
South Africa has a huge private security industry that includes training.
There are more than 15,000 security firms employing about 2.8 million 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 Saturday but was under investigation.
It was not immediately clear whether the 95 individuals were affiliated to any group.
Libya is still riven by conflict and civil war more than a decade after the 2011 NATO-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi.
The country is divided between the internationally recognised government based in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east.
“We categorically deny that the apprehended group is affiliated with our government or that we have any connection to their dispatch or assignment, “the government in Tripoli said on Friday, adding that it was monitoring the case.
Although relative calm has returned to the oil-rich country in the past four years, clashes periodically occur between armed groups.