Police Minister Senzo Mchunu refrained from calling the “illegal” base an act of treason.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said a military camp allegedly run by Libyan nationals in Mpumalanga was flouting Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) regulations.
Police in Mpumalanga on Friday uncovered a secret military training camp believed to be operating on a farm in White River and arrested 95 people of Libyan nationality.
Mchunu told journalists on Saturday during a site visit to the makeshift military camp, which includes barracks and trenches, that the facility was illegal in terms of PSIRA procedures.
PSIRA is the authority that regulates all private security activities in the country.
The minister added that what is taking place in the camps has not been applied for or approved by PSIRA and said this type of training, which appears “essentially military”, raises questions about the country's security.
“All indications are that this is a military training facility rather than a regular security training centre. It's more military than security,” he claimed.
The two Libyan nationals are said to have entered South Africa in April with study permits, but their visas were revoked after their arrest.
They claimed they came here to study to become security officers.
The South African Police Service said in a statement on Friday that the operation was carried out in coordination with a provincial joint operations organisation, which includes other role-playing agencies such as the Department of Home Affairs and the police's Crime Intelligence Unit.
Police added that Mpumalanga Acting Provincial Commissioner Major General Zeff Mkhwanazi convened a joint operational task force on Thursday after receiving information about a suspect camp which led to Friday's raid and subsequent arrests.
Responding to questions about their status in the country, Mchunu confirmed that their presence in South Africa is illegal.
“We're saying that because we found in the application process that there were violations of those procedures, that person's presence there will be unlawful. Once we determine that they are an illegal immigrant, we will consider deporting them as soon as possible,” he said.
“In that sense, we want them to leave the country as soon as possible, but we will follow due process and consultation.”
He said police could not rule out the possibility that there could be other camps similar to the one they found in the state.
“We're not going to limit ourselves to what's established now. [We] “This may just be a symptom, so we're going to expand our testing. But if we find anything else, we'll follow that.”
The minister said there were indications of Libyan government involvement but declined to say whether the camp's existence was an act of treason.
“When you say that [treason] This means that we have completed our investigation, considered the relevant laws and came to a certain conclusion.”
National Commissioner Fanny Masemola said all the weapons found were legal for training. Masemola said there were signs the weapons had been used.
A senior police official said the facility was an accredited security training provider and that the investigation was still ongoing.
“We can't point out all the things you're doing wrong, and we don't want to jeopardize our case by taking it to court.”
