The south African newspaper, The Daily Maverick, said the 95 Libyan nationals arrested in a raid on what appeared to be a security training site converted into an illegal military training base on a farm near White River, Mpumalanga, were reportedly on the payroll of Khalifa Haftar, whom the newspaper described as “a close ally of the private Russian military company Wagner and of the Russian government more generally.”
The Daily Maverick said that the 95 Libyan nationals would appear in the White River Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 29 July.
“They will face charges relating to the contravention of the Immigration Act after they entered South Africa with visas that were acquired through misrepresentation in Tunis, Tunisia, according to the Department of Home Affairs.” The newspaper said.
Daily Maverick was told that it was likely that the US tipped off the South African authorities about the White River training camp because of the close cooperation between Haftar and the Russian state.
