The African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) notes and welcomes the findings of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) into the activities of a secret military camp, where 95 Libyan citizens received military-style training, just outside the town of White River in Mpumalanga.
PSIRA, in its investigation, found that the military-style training camp was run illegally, and that the instructors at the facility were allegedly not accredited. The investigation further found a second training facility only a few kilometres away.
The ACDP welcomes the suspension letters issued by PSIRA to the owners of the camp(s) in question, Milites Dei Security Services, but we want to see the relevant government authorities taking serious action against those who effortlessly contravene our immigration, border control, and national security laws and policies.
The fact that Libyan citizens received military training on South African soil, under our noses, without our government seemingly having any knowledge of it until it was uncovered and reported on in the media raises serious concern, but more so, it is a clear indication of the many challenges found in the departments of State Security, Home Affairs, and Police. The uncovering of this military training operation laid bare the lapses in our government departments’ ability to effectively implement, and carry out, the most basic functions related to our country’s security, border control management, and its immigration policy, as well as ensuring the overall safety and security of all South Africans.
The ACDP calls on National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the departments of State Security, Home Affairs, and Police, to swiftly round up their investigations, and to take South Africans into their confidence, in similar fashion to PSIRA, and to publicly make known its respective findings concerning this unacceptable breach of South Africa’s security, border control, and immigration laws and policies.
