Nearly two years after Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi's death, South Africa will help to send his loot back to the north African country.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan had agreed with the current Libyan government that assets hidden in South Africa would be repatriated in line with UN protocols, the Treasury said yesterday.
Estimates put the late Gaddafi's secret fortune at billions of dollars.
The Sunday Times reported two weeks ago that as much as $1-billion of the treasure trove was being held by South African banks and security companies in cash, gold and diamonds.
The Treasury's statement yesterday referred to a meeting last week between Gordhan and a Libyan government delegation led by Usama al Abid, minister in the office of the Libyan prime minister.
The Libyan government formed a single agency last year to coordinate the return of its assets, the Treasury said.
The Libyan delegation met President Jacob Zuma in Pretoria in December and held a follow-up meeting with him at Nkandla in April. They also met Gordhan in April and wrote to Justice Minister Jeff Radebe last month asking them to help trace and secure the bounty and prevent "illegal attempts [to] move the funds", sparking an investigation by the Asset Forfeiture Unit, the Sunday Times reported.
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