Jacob Zuma ATM

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – JUNE 26: South African president Jacob Zuma at the AU media briefing on developments in the Libyan conflict on June 26, 2011 in Pretoria, South Africa. – Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Sydney Seshibedi

Jacob Zuma accused of stashing $30m from Gaddafi in Nkandla bunker

Keep your friends close, and your brutal dictators even closer. Jacob Zuma is facing allegations that he helped hide Muammar Gaddafi’s millions in Nkandla.

Jacob Zuma ATM

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA – JUNE 26: South African president Jacob Zuma at the AU media briefing on developments in the Libyan conflict on June 26, 2011 in Pretoria, South Africa. – Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Sydney Seshibedi

The allegation may seem wild, but there are enough receipts to make it credible. A report by the Sunday Times has accused Jacob Zuma of hiding $30 million which belonged to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the bunker of his sprawling Nkandla homestead.

The infamous stash has been referred to as “Gaddafi’s missing millions” and it has had a lot of different hiding places over the years. Part of Libya’s cash reserves were also reportedly hidden in Pretoria and Johannesburg over the last decade. However, the vast sums of money that were supposedly left with Zuma would later cross another border.

Jacob Zuma and Gaddafi’s millions: Following the money trail

King Mswati of Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) has told Cyril Ramaphosa that the idle $30 million is now in his possession. That’s according to the publication, who say the monarch came clean about the cash last month during a meeting with SA’s president.

Gaddafi was, to all intents and purposes, a cold-hearted dictator who ruled Libya with an iron fist. A NATO-backed intervention in October 2011 saw the ruler killed after he was captured by rebels. Sadly, this would not prove to be a successful “Arab Spring” for the North African nation.

The foreign intervention failed to usher in a stable era of democracy, leaving Libya to decay into what is now seen as a failed state. Crime, lawlessness and a spike in human trafficking have all come to characterise the country over the past decade.

Eswatini dragged into the controversy

How Zuma managed to get the money to a different country still remains very “cloak and dagger”. What has been established is the motive for why JZ was harbouring the cash for his dubious friend. It’s believed the millions were to be used in case Gadaffi had to face a lengthy legal battle, and as a nest egg for his remaining family if he was jailed.

The Nkandla bunker has been subject to much speculation over the years. On a visit to the former president’s home, ex-Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was denied access to the sealed-off room. Investigators are adamant that this is where Msholozi hid the mega-bucks.