Ninety-five Libyans arrested at an 'illegal military base' in Mpumalanga will appear in court on Monday. They are reportedly linked to a Libyan strongman allied with Russia that's trying to overthrow the UN-backed government in Tripoli.

Listen to this article 9 min Listen to this article 9 min 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, are reportedly on the payroll of eastern Libyan military strongman General Khalifa Haftar, who has also been a close ally of the private Russian military company Wagner and of the Russian government more generally.

Russia, and in particular, Wagner, have been highly active in Libya since 2018, fighting on the side of the Libyan alternative government based at Benghazi and Tobruk in the east of the country, which has been trying to topple the United Nations-backed government in the west of the country with its capital in Tripoli.

The Libyan nationals will 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. They are being held in custody.

In 2019, Haftar and his military coalition, which he has himself styled as the...