Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

About 1000 people claiming to be former Apla, SANDF, Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) members and new recruits have been arrested after illegally camping on a sugar farm in northern KwaZulu-Natal, police said on Tuesday.

Police spokesman Superintendent Jay Naicker said the group of men, who had been camped on Leeukop Farm near the N2 since last Tuesday, were arrested late Monday after they failed to heed a warning by KwaZulu-Natal Safety and Security MEC Bheki Cele.

Naicker said pepper spray and rubber bullets were used as some groups tried to stone the nearly 100 officers brought in to remove them.

The group were bussed to the Onverwacht border post near Pongola on October 6, before they moved towards the Pongola Bridge.

Naicker said police had worked through the night to deal with the paper

work to charge all the men.

He could not say exactly how many men there were, as they were still being charged on Tuesday morning.

There were not enough cells at Mkuze police station, where the men were being charged. Several police stations in the surrounding region had to accommodate the arrested men.

Police monitored the group of men who had slowly moved in the direction of Mkuze before stopping at Leeukop Farm.

It was believed that the group were connected with a previous group of 365 that were arrested in the KwaZulu-Natal town of Manguzi recently for violating the Regulations of Gatherings Act.

There were reports that a number of those arrested in Manguzi had also made their way to Leeukop farm.

The Zululand Observer last week reported that the group had first gathered at the King Dinizulu Hall in Eshowe before boarding buses to Pongola.

Sugar farm owner Lauri Brecher said no aggression had been shown to him or his farm manager by the group.