Hawks mum on Libya’s trillions stored in SA

The Hawks declined to comment on reports on Sunday that an investigation into Libyan assets stored in South Africa was underway.

"We are at a level where we cannot comment on the matter," spokesman Captain Paul Ramaloko said.

The Sunday Independent reported that R2 trillion in US dollars from Libya is stored at seven heavily-guarded warehouses and bunkers in secret locations in Pretoria and Johannesburg.

The newspaper reported that the Hawks were investigating a possible violation of exchange control regulations.

The assets, which included hundreds of tons of gold and six million carats of diamonds, were ferried to South Africa in at least 62 flights between Tripoli and South Africa, according to the publication.

The R2 trillion excludes several billion rands held legally in four banks in South Africa.

Most of the assets were taken out of Libya when President Jacob Zuma got invoved in an African Union process to persuade former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi to step down after an uprising to force him out of office began in February 2011, according to the newspaper.

On April 10, 2011, Zuma announced that Gaddafi had accepted a roadmap for ending the conflict in that country following talks in Tripoli. Libyan rebels rejected the plan.

Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 20 that year.