In a small courtroom in White River, Mpumalanga, 95 Libyan citizens, suspected to be militia, appeared on charges of contravening the SA immigration act.
The young-looking Libyan nationals, who are non-English speaking, were arrested on Friday after provincial police raided a farm outside White River.
Following delays, under conditions, prosecutor Martin Brits read out the charges to the 95 suspected foreign nationals.
Brits asked presiding magistrate, Eddie Hall, to adjourn the matter for 7 days, which was granted to 5th of next month.
Mpumalanga police raided the farm in April uncovering what appeared to be a secret military base for training illegal Libyan nationals. It followed a tip-off from community members of Masoyi village near the base.
Provincial police spokesman Colonel Donald Mdhluli said the NPA received intelligence regarding this farm. The subsequent raid led to the detention of 95 Libyan nationals found to be training at the camp.
Delays and a lack of information from the NPA were apparent outside the White River Magistrate’s Court where a media contingent gathered, waiting for the accused to appear. There were also logistical issues to accommodate the accused in one courtroom.
It is believed the NPA was earlier making a decision on whether to prosecute or not.
Speaking to The Star, deputy provincial commissioner of crime detection, General Botsotso Moukangwe, said the group was going to prison until the set court date.
“They are going to prison. They had been in different police cells until now. But now they are going to Barberton correctional services, he said.
Dumisanu Mthenjane, EFF leader, told The Star that he was worried that the suspects were terrorising communities at the time.
“We are worried that our communities and this country can have people who can come in and terrorise everyone … Imagine if it was not the police who had raided them … Was going to happen with those people?” he asked.
“We are surprised that the so-called instructors are not arrested. They are accomplices …This shows that it’s missionaries that are coming to train in our country, we can't allow that in our country,” he said.
However, speaking to the media on Monday outside the court, NPA spokesperson in Mpumalanga, Monica Nyuswa, confirmed that the prosecuting authority had made a decision to prosecute.
“I can confirm that the NPA has received dockets regarding the 95 Libyan nationals who were arrested last Friday.
“At this stage, the NPA has made a decision to prosecute all 95 Libyan nationals on a charge of misrepresentation on their visa applications.
“It’s the only charge at this stage ... So when they appear the matter will be postponed for further investigations,” she said.
Further investigations would indicate whether to add more charges against the accused, she said.
The SAPS are gearing up to investigate the possibility of more illegal military training bases across the country following the discovery of this one.
When the Independent Media team arrived at the camp, which is well hidden from the public eye, there were military training equipment, tents where the suspects slept and a dining hall.
According to the villagers near the camp, the arrested suspects used to visit the village for drinks and allegedly caused havoc among the members of the community who have laid a number of cases.
Addressing the media on Saturday, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, flanked by his two deputies Cassel Mathale and Polly Boshielo, said police were looking into the possibility of other camps of this kind.
“Investigations are continuing and we are not going to confine ourselves to what we have established now.
“We are going to expand our checks because this might be one at this point but if there is anything that we come across we will follow it. We are doing investigations,” he said.
Asked why it took four months for this to be discovered, Mchunu said officials were still investigating.
“When law officials came across information they started an investigation. Investigations of this nature can take a year, it can take four months. It can take whatever period that would be necessitated by the need to get facts before you act.
“In the main, we are here to address what might be anxiety in South Africa at the moment. The people who were involved here are in custody” he said.
Law enforcement agencies came across reports and investigations that sprung from a number of pointers and issues that required to be investigated.
“Reports came from various sources and were compiled. Further investigations showed that the people who are in the spotlight of this needed to be arrested and they got arrested.
“What we have seen inside confirms what has been contained in the reports presented to us … These things point to a number of issues we are focusing on following the arrests.”
He said the process of visa applications was violated and that would be finalised at some point.
“But while this facility here is legal in terms of PSiRA processes, on further scrutiny it was found that what is happening here is non-compliant with the application,” he said.
The Star
mashudu.sadike@inl.co.za