According to a local newspaper, former South African President, Jacob Zuma has denied allegations that Muammar Gaddafi, former Libyan Leader gave him $30m (£22m). And the money was to secure Colonel Gaddafi legal representation and taken to court — if he was captured – or to pass the money on to his family in case he was killed.
In 2011, Muammar Gadaffi was caught and killed.
Implying that it “was another story about him that the paper had got wrong, Mr Zuma, however, has tweeted that he knows absolutely nothing about the allegations against him.
According to the Sunday Times, the money had been kept in a vault since 2011 in former President Zuma’s private home before it was then moved to eSwatini early this year.
The country’s monarch King, King Mswati III was aware, the Sunday Times also reported.
Mr Zuma’s successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, the paper alleged, also had knowledge of the cash movement.
And the Citizen news site has reported both South Africa and eSwatini denying the allegations.
“The story did not reflect realities on the ground,” Lindiwe Sisulu, South Africa’s International Relations Minister also said as he denied the allegations.
“There is no money that we are aware of and I spoke honestly and as the minister of international relations, I have not found any money that belongs to Libyans. If the Libyans make a request for us to investigate this matter, we will. The story on the front page [of the Sunday Times] doesn’t reflect the realities on the ground.”
And since white-minority rule ended in 1994, Jacob Zuma has been the most controversial president South Africa has ever seen.
And with a lot of scandals that surely would have ended one’s career, Mr Zuma has survived a total of seven major scandals between years 2005 – 2018.