White River, Mpumalanga – The tranquil macadamia nut farms and lodges of the Mpumalanga bushveld have been shaken by the discovery of a covert military training camp, a revelation that has sent shockwaves through the region and beyond.
On Friday, a joint operation involving South African Crime Intelligence and the Department of Home Affairs descended upon the Milites Dei Academy, a seemingly innocuous security training facility located near White River. The raid resulted in the arrest of 95 Libyan nationals, allegedly undergoing paramilitary training under the watchful eyes of instructors at the academy.
This revelation has brought to light a clandestine operation that has been operating under the very noses of South African authorities, raising serious questions about national security and the potential for foreign interference.
The Milites Dei Academy, a registered security training provider, boasts a slick website and active social media presence, showcasing its services, including VIP protection, anti-poaching, dog handling, and general security practices. However, beneath the veneer of a legitimate security training outfit lies a darker reality.
Their Instagram page, a virtual window into the academy's operations, depicts a military training regime, with videos of trainees engaged in close-quarters combat, mastering camouflage techniques, and partaking in drills that would be familiar to any seasoned soldier. Their website, too, makes no secret of their military-style training offerings, including a three-month "army basic-training style course" designed to produce "specialist operatives."
The academy's physical facilities, with their extensive trench network and bunker, further reinforce the impression of a military training camp. This, coupled with the fact that the Libyan nationals were reportedly on the payroll of General Khalifa Haftar, the eastern Libyan military strongman, paints a disturbing picture of a covert operation with potentially far-reaching implications.
Haftar, a controversial figure who has been a close ally of the Russian government and the Wagner private military company, has been locked in a protracted power struggle with the UN-backed government in Tripoli. His forces have been actively involved in the Libyan civil war since 2018, seeking to overthrow the Tripoli government and consolidate their control over the country.
The arrest of the Libyan trainees in South Africa has sparked a flurry of questions about the nature of the training they were receiving and its potential impact on the ongoing conflict in Libya.
Jalel Harchaoui, an expert at the Royal United Services Institute in London, has suggested that the training provided by Milites Dei Academy may have violated the UN arms embargo imposed on Libya since 2011. He argues that the embargo applies not only to the supply of weapons but also to the provision of military training services.
"The Haftar family owns vast amounts of money and appeared to have decided to spend some of it on diversifying the training of the best special forces money could buy," Harchaoui told Daily Maverick.
Adding further intrigue to this unfolding saga, Harchaoui has alleged that the US tipped off South African authorities about the training camp, highlighting the level of international concern surrounding Haftar's activities and the potential for his forces to destabilize the region.
The Libyan nationals arrested in the raid are expected to appear in the White River Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 29 July. They face charges related to immigration violations, having allegedly obtained their visas through misrepresentation in Tunisia.
The discovery of this clandestine training camp has exposed a shadowy network of international actors operating in South Africa, raising serious concerns about national security and the potential for foreign interference in the region.
