By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Presidency has confirmed that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s upcoming meeting with his Namibian counterpart Hage Geingob has been postponed.
The meeting was scheduled to start next week from 28 June until 1 July in Windhoek.
In a statement presidency said it was custom that schedules of heads of state change and that meetings involving them were postponed.
However Namibia’s International Relations and Cooperation Ministry confirmed the postponement , saying this was due to unforeseen circumstances.
The meeting was to be co-chaired by both country’s presidents Geingob and Ramaphosa.
Both presidents have been caught up in a scandal over the alleged theft of millions of US dollars by Namibian burglars from Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020.
Ramaphosa came under fire after former spy boss Arthur Fraser laid a criminal complaint against him following the break-in at his farm on 9 February 2020.
In his affidavit submitted in June, Fraser claimed Ramaphosa had conspired with the head of Presidential Protection Unit, Major-General Wally Rhoode, to track down the men behind the robbery, instead of reporting the matter to the police.
Fraser named Imanuwela David, Errki Shikongo, Petrus Muhekeni, Urbanus Shaumbwako and Petrus Afrikaner as the perpetrators of the heist.
He claimed the men had conspired with the domestic worker to steal the money hidden in a couch.
The men were found in Namibia and allegedly tortured along with the domestic worker, who reportedly worked with the men to arrange the burglary.
South Africa is the source of 66 percent of Namibia’s imports and is responsible for approximately 80 percent of investments in key industries.