1 month ago
81
The training offered in White River, Mpumalanga, where 95 Libyans were recently arrested, was not in line with what the company was accredited for, the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) said on Wednesday.
Non-South African instructors and trainers using military ranks were among the discoveries its investigation discovered.
PSiRA CEO Manabela Chauke said the standard of training offered by Milites Dei Security Services (MDSS) at the training camp was foreign and adopted from other countries.
Chauke said the authority is considering charges and formal prosecution of the service providers and those involved. He said the company and its directors were served with notices of suspension on Tuesday. This means the company cannot provide any security training and services until investigations are concluded.
Outlining the timeline leading to the arrests, Chauke said on July 18 they were informed by police of the allegations that the security company was conducting military training at the Mpumalanga farm.
“On July 19 we redirected our law enforcement team deployed in Mpumalanga to investigate the allegations. On July 21 we issued MDSS with the directive to cease training operations of the Libyan nationals with immediate effect. MDSS requested an opportunity to consult their legal representatives and they were granted this,” he said.
Chauke said the company confirmed the immediate cessation of training on July 23 and offered to cooperate with the investigations. He confirmed MDSS is registered with the authority and had been accredited to train security grades E to C from 2019.
“A routine inspection was conducted at the accredited facility 11 months ago. The location of the accredited facility is unchanged. However, the investigations discovered a second training facility located 7.5km away from the original accredited facility.”
He said the second training facility is the facility where the 95 Libyans were arrested.
In their preliminary findings, Chauke said they discovered the training camp was never accredited and the duration of the training programmes being conducted took longer than the local security training programme.
“The nature of the training included extensive physical activities with military-styled structures. Investigations also uncovered instructors who are not accredited by the authority at the facility. The trainers used military ranks which further reaffirms the nature of training conducted at the training facility.”
Chauke said no local security grade training was being offered to the Libyans.
He said the design and layout of the infrastructure at he camp supported a military-style training camp.
“There was a contravention of the immigration laws by the owners and the Libyan trainees,” he said.
Chauke said there was no authorisation, agreements and exemptions granted to the company by the national regulator for conventional arms control to provide military training to the Libyans.
Their findings are that the MDSS, its owners and its personnel contravened the code of conduct for private security service providers, he said.
TimesLIVE
