Exactly 16 days after their club Marumo Gallants played Al Akhdar in the CAF Confederation Cup, team manager, Rufus Matsena, and physiotherapist, Amos Dina Dhlomo remain holed up at the Alfakhama Hotel Suites in Benghazi.

After struggling to book flights due to the ongoing Ramadan period, Marumo Gallants owner Abram Sello made an arrangement with Alfakhama Hotel owner, Dr Ali Elzargha.

The two had met last year in November when the DStv Premiership outfit played a club continental fixture in the Libyan capital.  

Under the agreement, Dr Elzargha would arrange and pay for a flight that would transport the team to Libya for their crucial CAF encounter.

Sello would then pay back Dr Elzargha's dues upon arrival in the North African country. However, the Marumo Gallants supremo was unable to meet his part of the bargain.

The two businessman then agreed Mr Matsena and Mr Dhlomo would be held as collateral and only released once the money was paid. 

Dr Elzargha has kept the passports of the two gentleman to ensure they don't flee while Mr Sello is now insisting he has been overcharged.

South Africa's Department of International Relations and Corporation [DIRCO] issued a statement this week saying they were intervening to assist the duo.

"Holding people hostage is a criminal offence, and the South African government will not allow for our nationals to be kidnapped or held against their will. This is the reason why we are decisively intervening in this matter to secure their release. We are quite confident that they will be soon back with their families," DIRCO spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.

The Libyan businessman responded to DIRCO's statement, saying the issue was an unpaid debt. "Pay the money, that's all," he told South African media.

South Africa does not have an embassy in Libya, forcing government to engage the mission in neighbouring Tunisia.

The South African Football Association [SAFA] general manager Mzwandile Maforvane on Thursday confirmed a meeting had been scheduled to resolve the matter.

Dr Elzargha, Sello, SAFA and DIRCO are set to have a virtual discussion to map the way forward.

Meanwhile, the Limpopo club was drawn against Pyramids FC of Egypt in the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederation Cup. CAF conducted the draw on Wednesday evening.