More charges could be brought against the 95 “secret military camp” suspects who appeared a second time in the White River Magistrate’s Court in Mpumalanga on Monday.
This according to the Mpumalanga National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after the gang’s case was postponed to later in the month for further investigation.
The 95 Libyan nationals are being charged with contravening the South African Immigration Act after provincial police raided a farm near White River last month, uncovering what appeared to be a secret military base for training the Libyan nationals.
It followed a tip-off from community members of Masoyi village near the base.
Provincial police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli said the NPA received intelligence regarding this farm, leading to the arrests.
Authorities found the secret military camp after residents of the nearby village of Masoyi complained that the Libyans were terrorising locals.
Villagers have now come to open cases of criminal conduct including rape, according to the NPA’s Monica Nyuswa.
There was also an issue with their visa applications that led to the Department of Home Affairs revoking them.
According to police, the men had claimed on their visa applications that they were going to be trained as security guards, but it was suspected they were undergoing military training.
Home Affairs said the men entered the country with visas that were “acquired through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisia”.
“The visa cancellation means that all the affected Libyans are now undocumented foreign nationals,” said Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber.
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 Monday after court, Nyuswa said the NPA, together with the police, were working tirelessly to ensure that the outstanding investigations were getting finalised.
“The matter had been postponed to get an Arabic interpreter initially, as well as for further investigations. When they appeared in court today, the Arabic interpreter was present in court. The investigations will determine whether more charges will be added and whether more arrests will be made,” she said.
During the court proceedings, presiding magistrate Eddie Hall said the court did not need to consider, in detail, the reason for the postponement because there was no objection.
“It appears that there are still criminal charges that are being prepared by the State, so there is a request to have a postponement, and in light of that I’m satisfied that there is sufficient reason for the court to consider the request, especially when there is no opposition … Therefore, I’ll grant the postponement until the 26th of August.
“All the accused are in custody at the Nelspruit Prison and will be in custody until their next appearance,” Hall said.
Community Safety MEC Jackie Macie said he was pleased the State’s plan was to lay more charges against the suspects.
“I’m happy because things are going according to the plan. They have given us ample time to conclude our investigations …I hope by the 26th of August, we would have concluded the investigation so that we can put our case before the court.”
The Star