Police minister Senzo Mchunu says the Mpumalanga camp at which 95 Libyans were arrested on Friday “appears to be basically and fundamentally military”.
“All indications point to this being more of a military training centre than a security centre,” the minister told journalists during a visit to the camp in White River yesterday.
The Milites Dei Academy has been ordered to stop operations while investigations into the camp, which is based on Peebles Farm near White River, continue.
The training centre is registered under director Bardo Buys. Several calls to his registered cellphone number yesterday went unanswered.
The academy's website says it specialises in “military training-style learning programmes and accredited qualifications such as specialist operative and other training in South Africa”.
During Friday's raid, the Libyans were found housed in military tents with military training equipment, including licensed firearms. Police also found dagga and cocaine. It is believed the Libyans entered South Africa on study permits in April.
“While this facility is legal in terms of Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) processes, on further scrutiny it has been found that what is happening here is not in accordance or is not compliant with the application. There is a gap between what was applied for and what was taking place,” Mchunu said.
PSIRA confirmed that Milites Dei was registered in 2017, and had been accredited since January 2019. Spokesperson Azwifaneli Tshisikamulilo said the academy had submitted course reports for grades E, D and C of security training, the last reports being submitted in 2021.
These grades entail basic security, health and security, access control and proper patrolling. They do not include senior security officer training which includes firearm competency. This is done in the more senior Grade B course.
Tshisikamulilo said PSIRA learnt of the training camp last week from the police.
“PSIRA has instructed Milites Dei to immediately cease all training activities and has deployed its inspectorate to the premises to ensure compliance. PSIRA, together with other government departments, were naturally concerned about these activities and took immediate steps to conduct preliminary investigations and consequently shut down training. It is alleged that they were conducting military-style training.”
Mchunu said investigations were continuing and whether the owner would be charged or not depended on what the investigation uncovered.
Local resident Sidney Khoza, who lives close to the training centre, told the Sunday Times that people living in the area were surprised at the discovery, and suspected the camp might be the source of a recent spike in crime in the area.
“These days crime is very high, people are getting raped, killed and children disappear. I can't estimate when it rose but it has risen,” he said.
“Since about April or May, criminals have been invading churches during night prayers. They come in with guns looking for money. That didn't happen before, but now it happens.”
Home affairs minister Leon Schreiber confirmed that the visas for the Libyans had been “irregularly acquired” and had now been cancelled.
According to the department of home affairs, the visas were acquired through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisia.
They should have picked that up during the early stages, but it is very difficult to establish that if they used the legitimate training as a smokescreen.
— Willem Els, senior training co-ordinator at the Institute for Security Studies
Willem Els, senior training co-ordinator at the Institute for Security Studies, said people should not make assumptions about the site being a military base.
“Based on the evidence gathered yesterday [Friday], I think we should be very careful not to jump to conclusions before we have gathered all the information,” he said.
“We see that this is a registered security company. It might be legitimate but they might have also used that as a smokescreen to perform military training, and that will only come out in the investigations. So we should be very careful not to jump to conclusions. But it is a threat to South Africa if that could happen, it is a threat to the stability of South Africa. We should be very careful who we train, especially in the way of where these people are coming from.”
Els said the fact that intelligence only came through about four months after the Libyans arrived was concerning.
“They should have picked that up during the early stages, but it is very difficult to establish that if they used the legitimate training as a smokescreen. That would have to be evaluated, the intelligence verified and analysed.”
Els said the police had to be vigilant. “The police and intelligence service have to make sure that these academics are not abused and used as smokescreens for the training of militants, of terrorists and anyone else.”
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