Cape Town - International relations experts believe President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first official trip to Namibia since the farmgate scandal broke may have been used to iron out simmering tensions that the scandal caused, which led to the neighbouring country’s President Hage Geingob also facing mounting pressure.
A meeting which the two were set to attend was cancelled last year after it came to light that Ramaphosa had allegedly enlisted Geingob’s services in tracking the gang of Namibians who broke into his Phala Phala farm in Limpopo in 2020 and stole millions of dollars apparently concealed in furniture.
This week Ramaphosa attended the Extraordinary SADC Troika Summit in Windhoek. In his opening statement, Geingob thanked Ramaphosa for assisting with a smooth transition as chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
However, he said Ramaphosa sometimes took days to return his calls.
“He has always been available to take my calls and provide support. I will call him or leave a message... sometimes he takes two days to answer me but all the same he does reply. I do understand he is very busy, we all watch TV. So sometimes I am even surprised when he tries to answer and talk to me. So, thank you very much,” he said.
Asked whether the two leaders had discussed the farmgate scandal, Ramaphosa spokesperson Vincent Magwenya would only say: “The president went to Namibia to attend the Organ Troika summit. Any other question outside of the summit is irrelevant”, before referring the Cape Times to the summit communiqué.
Geingob’s office did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.
Surgetower Associates (Foreign Affairs Specialist Consultancy) director Siseko Maposa said: “There could have been a private discussion between President Ramaphosa and Geingob on Phala Phala at the SADC Security Summit, but let us not miss the bigger picture of what’s been happening over the past few months.
“What is becoming increasingly obvious is that South Africa wants to deal with Phala Phala on its own sovereign terms. Outside Minister Ronald Lamola’s statement late last year, denying that the South African government deliberately ignored a request for mutual legal assistance from Namibia, not much has been said by the SA government regarding its forthcomingness to work together with Namibian authorities.
“Overall, it seems South Africa is employing a quiet diplomatic approach, albeit very pragmatically, aimed at maintaining sole authority over Phala Phala investigations and controlling the narrative from within. But even so, because South Africa and Namibia share important economic and trading ties, I do not foresee farmgate politics fundamentally altering diplomatic relations between the two countries.”
School of Public Leadership director at Stellenbosch University, Professor Zwelinzima Ndevu, said: “I think because of the current investigation by different government agencies it would be premature to assume that the president is cleared. However, when the institutions finalise the processes and find that he has a case to answer it would mean that, if charged, the step aside process will kick in, which will affect his presidency.
“It would be interesting to find out if the trip was not used to reassure the Namibian president that the case was just a smoke before the conference and nothing to worry about.”
The two leaders have been under the spotlight since former state security boss Arthur Fraser lodged a criminal complaint with police against Ramaphosa for alleged money laundering as the cash found was apparently never declared to financial regulators.
He also claimed that five suspects, mostly Namibian nationals, were allegedly traced using a bogus drug case and located in Milnerton before they were kidnapped, tortured and apparently bribed for their silence.
Both Ramaphosa and Geingob have denied wrongdoing.
While no police case was opened, Ramaphosa maintained that he had informed his head of security about the break-in and the stolen money was from the sale of animals.
But a Section 89 report into the matter found there was prima facie evidence that Ramaphosa had violated the Constitution by hoarding a large sum of foreign currency and trying to cover up the theft. Ramaphosa is currently challenging that report in the Constitutional Court.
Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya said they had obtained 68 statements relating to the case. The Hawks on Wednesday said no one had been arrested and their investigation continues.
Meanwhile, the office of the public protector has confirmed that its investigation into the matter had been completed and the report was undergoing internal quality assurance procedures.
Cape Times