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The South African government, the ANC and Denel ignored the UN’s panel of experts on Libya when they inquired about the so-called Gaddafi millions and a strange weapons transaction.
This is contained in the UN panel’s report to the UN Security Council, relating to the flow of weapons and capital in conflict-ridden Libya and South Africa.
According to the panel, a Libyan delegation describing themselves as the “Libyan Air Force” and “Air Territory Defence Forces” had ordered a substantial number of weapons from Denel, including, among other things, 84 Rooivalk attack helicopters, 40 Atlas Oryx helicopters, 500 missile launchers and thousands of mortars.
“The volumes and types of materials that were requested by the Libyan party suggest that a large amount of money was available and that the negotiations were clearly at an advanced stage.
"Two people, who were directly involved in the negotiations, were independently questioned.
"Both confirmed that the material would be purchased with the Gaddafi regime’s ‘hidden’ assets that were still in South Africa,” the document argues.
According to the report, Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula supported the Denel negotiations in a letter that refers to a meeting held in Johannesburg on March 5 2013.
This was despite the fact that arms sanctions against Libya were in place.
However, the planned transaction with Denel was never realised.
The panel also sought to verify documents related to the apparent transfer of $800m, which was allegedly moved from a Standard Bank branch in South Africa to a Stanbic bank account in Kenya.
“The panel obtained documentation that shows that two large transfers were possibly made on behalf of Libya Africa Investment Portfolio [LAIP] in the second half of 2011,” the panel’s report states.
“The payment was made by Bashir Saleh al-Shrkawi from a Standard Bank branch in South Africa.
“The management of LAIP explained to the panel that they had no knowledge of the beneficiary account ... the transfer would show that concealed Libyan funds were made available to members of the former regime who are in South Africa,” the report states.
According to the UN report, al-Shrkawi admitted he was involved with LAIP in 2009, but claimed he had had nothing to do with the fund since 2011.
Neither the department of international relations and cooperation, the department of defence nor the National Conventional Arms Control Committee responded to inquiries from Rapport, City Press’ sister newspaper.
By the time of going to print, Standard Bank had not responded to Rapport’s inquiries about the transaction.
