Others said fights between male residents of Mganduzweni and the group of Libyans had broken out in the past before, where the latter would threaten to shoot the local men.
“These people would come from those bushes there. At first, we thought they were a group of Indians who came to do business. At some point, they would come selling blankets, and when we buy them, they would go straight to buy alcohol and cigarettes and dine with girls from the village,” said resident Sizwe Mashego.
Another resident who preferred to remain anonymous said the Libyan nationals used to go around with things that looked like guns.
"One day when a fight for girls broke out, they threatened to shoot and started making gestures as if they are shooting.
“That’s when we asked serious questions about who they are. One guy who works on the farm where they stay told us that they were soldiers from Libya and we were confused as to what people from such a country are doing on our shores.
“Knowing that the people who frequent our village are soldiers in training made us scared and some managed to inform police,” the resident said.
A security guard working at the camp said they used to feel threatened by the Libyans.
“These people used to threaten us, saying one day they will shoot us. They even made gestures that they would randomly shoot at us if we tried stopping them from stealing blankets from the camp and selling them to the community.
He said they would go to the village to drink alcohol only to return in the morning to go for training. They possibly had girlfriends in the village, the man said.
Libyan cadets ‘intimidated’ residents
‘They would buy alcohol and fight over girls’
They sold their blankets to buy booze, got into fights over girls in local taverns and threatened to shoot residents.
This is how a Mpumalanga community described Libyan nationals who were arrested at a military training camp in White River on Friday.
Residents of Mganduzweni, which is not far from where police uncovered a suspected secret military training camp where the Libyan nationals were based, said the behaviour of the men used to scare them a lot.
The men have since been arrested and charged with, among others, the contravention of the Immigration Act.
Allegations are that they misrepresented themselves on their visa applications, citing that they were coming to SA to study to become security guards, only to undergo military training after arriving in the country.
Home affairs has since cancelled their visas.
Residents who spoke to Sowetan said the Libyans would arrive in a large group and flood drinking spots in the area, then buy food and cigarettes before dining with girls.
Others said fights between male residents of Mganduzweni and the group of Libyans had broken out in the past before, where the latter would threaten to shoot the local men.
“These people would come from those bushes there. At first, we thought they were a group of Indians who came to do business. At some point, they would come selling blankets, and when we buy them, they would go straight to buy alcohol and cigarettes and dine with girls from the village,” said resident Sizwe Mashego.
Another resident who preferred to remain anonymous said the Libyan nationals used to go around with things that looked like guns.
"One day when a fight for girls broke out, they threatened to shoot and started making gestures as if they are shooting.
“That’s when we asked serious questions about who they are. One guy who works on the farm where they stay told us that they were soldiers from Libya and we were confused as to what people from such a country are doing on our shores.
“Knowing that the people who frequent our village are soldiers in training made us scared and some managed to inform police,” the resident said.
A security guard working at the camp said they used to feel threatened by the Libyans.
“These people used to threaten us, saying one day they will shoot us. They even made gestures that they would randomly shoot at us if we tried stopping them from stealing blankets from the camp and selling them to the community.
He said they would go to the village to drink alcohol only to return in the morning to go for training. They possibly had girlfriends in the village, the man said.
“Last month one arrived here after being beaten by boys from the community for stealing their girlfriends,” said a security guard who didn’t want to be named for fear of victimisation.
A police officer who had gone to the camp for investigations prior to the arrest said one of the military trainees tried to disarm him.
“While we did our investigation one of them tried to disarm me, but I managed to ward him off. They are arrogant and talk their language among themselves as if they don’t understand English,” said the officer.
According to Mpumalanga police, robbery and rape cases had increased in the Masoyi policing area where the camp is situated, and that some victims had stated that their attackers looked like Asian or Indian men.
“We got information from the management of Masoyi police station that there have been increase in cases including rape and robberies. Rape victims said they were abused by suspects who looked like white men or Indians, who couldn’t speak English properly.
“That information is part of the investigation,” said spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli.
The 95 Libyans were expected to appear at the White River magistrate’s court on Monday.