Libyan authorities have reportedly asked South African president Cyril Ramaphosa to help recover millions of dollars Muammar Gaddafi smuggled out of the country and handed to Jacob Zuma before he died.

The small fortune is now said to be in the hands of the King of Swaziland and has become entangled in a domestic South African political drama as Mr Ramaphosa seeks to crack down on the allegations of corruption that marred his predecessor's period in power.

Gaddafi allegedly handed about $23 million to Mr Zuma, then the president of South Africa, for safekeeping shortly before he was overthrown and killed in a Nato-backed uprising in 2011.

Mr Zuma had disagreed with international military intervention in Libya and had offered Gaddafi asylum in South Africa as his regime crumbled. The dictator turned down the offer, but instead asked the South African president to take care of some of his wealth.

"Gaddafi refused to go. He said he will die in his own country. He gave them money and said, 'Please use this if I'm captured and taken to the International Criminal Court, find a good lawyer for me'. He said, 'If I'm killed, please give it to my family'," a source told South Africa's Sunday Times.