Questions over 19 S Africans still in Libya

As mystery grows around the fate of 19 South Africans apparently stranded in Libya, the DA has questioned whether the South African government authorised mercenaries to help former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi escape.

An evacuation plan for the men is reportedly being run from Cape Town as the group are desperate to come home. The reports have spurred DA shadow minister for International Relations and Co-operation Stevens Mokgalapa to ask the national department whether it had given the sign-off for the men to go to Libya.

Weekend reports said some of the men were wounded and that some may have been involved in attempting to help Gaddafi escape when Nato planes launched an attack on the ousted leader. He died soon after the attack.

Frantic attempts to get the men home are under way but no pilots have been willing to fly them home, partly because the Nato flight ban is still in effect in Libya.

A logistics co-ordinator was quoted as saying the men were contracted by Nato and were not involved in anything illegal.

Previous reports also said that a local security company which finds work for former policemen had links with the men still stuck in Libya.

The men arrived in Libya last Tuesday, two days before the fatal attack, apparently to help Gaddafi flee to Niger.

But the co-ordinator said the men were contracted by Nato for certain tasks in Libya.

On Monday Mokgalapa said he was writing to the Minister of International Relations, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to ask whether she knew about the presence of South African mercenaries in Libya.

Mokgalapa said he would also be asking whether the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), on which the minister sits, authorised the presence of these mercenaries in Libya.

According to the Prohibition of Mercenary Activities Act of 2006, South African private security contractors must get permission from the NCACC before carrying out operations in conflict zones.

“If these contractors – or their firms – were granted permission, then the minister must explain why this was the case. If they were denied permission, then the minister must explain when she knew of the mercenaries’ intentions, and what steps she will be taking against those involved,” Mokgalapa said.

Department of International Relations and Co-operation spokesman Clayson Monyela said the department was not aware of any South African security workers or soldiers in Libya. Monyela said: “It’s always difficult to independently verify accusations like these reports saying the men are in Libya. Especially if the people who went there would not have gone through the official channels with relevant documents and authorisation. So we are not aware of anyone being there apart from the media reports.”

Mokgalapa added: “The ANC-led government has long been a Gaddafi supporter. Minister Nkoana-Mashabane must therefore come clean about whether the Zuma administration played any role in facilitating military assistance to the late Libyan dictator.”

Monyela said the department would respond. - Cape Times