Libyan group claim to be recruited by tycoon as security

One of the 95 men arrested at a military camp in Mpumalanga claims they were recruited by a Libyan tycoon who funded their trip only to disappear about a month ago, leaving them starving.

The men appeared in court yesterday on charges of misrepresentation and contravening the Immigration Act during their applications for visas to SA earlier this year. The discovery of the training camp has caused public outrage and raised questions about SA's domestic security from potential extremist threats. 

"He [businessman] asked us to apply and we did. He paid all our travelling costs and also helped pay for our training. But early last month we lost all contact with him as he didn't send any money to the people who ran the camp. We started running out of food and that's when we began selling some of our blankets to buy food and alcohol.

"Even after our arrest he hasn't tried to make contact with us. We were looking for jobs and we did not know what we were coming here to do was illegal," said the man.

He said he had been unemployed and came across a job opportunity offered by a businessman in Libya who wanted to recruit security guards to protect his businesses in Libya. The businessman runs several companies in Libya and has gold mining interests in that country. 

Meanwhile, according to Libyan media reports, the men belonged to the 2020 Group, which is part of the Tariq bin Ziyad Brigade affiliated to Libyan army commander Khalifa Haftar's forces. Saudi-based Al-Arabiya Al-Hadath TV channel said the men were sent by the general command in official coordination with an Irish security company for training as special forces.

According to the man, they arrived in SA in April via OR Tambo International Airport and were bused to Mpumalanga where they were to receive security training.

They were arrested on Friday at Milites Dei Security Services in White River. The police said they were receiving illegal military training and had misrepresented themselves to get into SA. On average, security courses offered by the camp run for three months. 

Yesterday, it took the White River magistrate's court about an hour to make seating arrangements as per the charge sheet for the 95 accused men who had arrived in three trucks from the department of home affairs.

They arrived in court around 2.50pm and had to be separated into groups of 10 before they were inside the courtroom, which had been cleared to accommodate all of them. The public was not allowed in and only journalists and court officials were inside. 

The prosecutor called each accused by their name before handing each person a piece of paper with a number as reflected on the charge sheet. The accused would then proceed to take a seat in court. Most of them had to sit in the public gallery area.

The NPA said the accused will only face a charge of misrepresentation on their visa applications where they cited that they were coming to SA to train as security guards.

"I can confirm that the NPA has received a docket of the 95 Libyan nationals and we are continuing to prosecute all 95 on one charge of misrepresentation. The case shall then be postponed to allow further police investigations. If the investigation finds other transgressions in the law more charges shall be added," said NPA spokesperson Monica Nyuswa.

Home affairs has since cancelled their visas.

Yesterday, Sowetan reported how the accused would get into fights over girls in local taverns and threatened to shoot residents of Mganduzweni village, who lived not far from the camp.

Only three of the accused could speak English. 

State prosecutor Adv Martin Britz asked the court to postpone the matter to next month while the court sought the services of an Arabic interpreter.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Col Donald Mdhluli said part of their investigation is to test all allegations levelled against the accused. 

"We shall not leave any stone unturned. Our investigation is touching all sides to uncover more about this case," said Mdhluli.