Phala Phala accused to sue Namibia after case is withdrawn

The two men who were accused by the Namibian government of aiding and abetting the alleged Phala Phala farm robbery mastermind, Immanuwela David, are threatening to sue the State for millions of dollars following the withdrawal of the case against them in Windhoek on Friday.

Paulus Ngalangi, the former general manager of the National Fishing Corporation of Namibia, made headlines in Namibian media when it came to light that he chauffeured David in his opulent BMW X5 to Windhoek.

This happened after the Phala Phala suspect paid two local boys, Petrus Erastus and Immanuel Thomas, R2 000 to canoe him across the Orange River, illegally entering the country near Noordoewer, the border with South Africa, in June 2020.

After prosecutor Esther Jafet admitted in court that she was “embarrassed” by the handling of the case and requested its provisional withdrawal, Ngalangi told Sunday World on Friday that he planned to sue the State.

Ngalangi always insisted that a close friend had asked him to pick up David, a businessman, and drop him off in Windhoek. However, he did not know how the Phala Phala suspect entered Namibia.

Job losses

On 14 June 2020, after Ngalangi and his friend, Hendrick Nghede, had left him in Windhoek, authorities arrested David and accused him of breaking immigration laws and Covid restrictions.

Erastus and Thomas admitted in court in August 2020 that they were the ones who helped David to enter Namibia illegally via a canoe across the Orange River and that they were paid by the Phala Phala suspect on the South African side, and also confirmed that they never had any dealings with Ngalangi.

Ngalangi was accompanied by Nghede, who was a police sergeant at the time, when they fetched David at a service station along the Orange River on June 12, 2020, and drove him to Windhoek.

Nghede was the second accused in the case, and he also threatened to sue the State.

“I was portrayed as some sort of criminal and even forced to resign as a police officer because of this case,” Nghede told Sunday World on Friday.

Nghede’s lawyer, Alex Veiko, also confirmed that his client was going to sue the State.

The case also compelled Ngalangi to resign from his position in June 2021 after six years of service.

Ngalangi has for four years been in and out of court as the State was delaying the case, even though he and Nghede cooperated with the authorities and proved their innocence.

“The people who helped David enter the country illegally confessed their sins and were sentenced, but we were treated like hoodlums for giving someone a ride.

“How is it aiding and abetting for giving someone a ride in your car?” he asked.

Unreported crime

At the time Ngalangi and Nghede drove David to Windhoek, there was no case opened against him by President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose farm was robbed of an undisclosed amount of US dollars, estimated by former state security agency director general Arthur Fraser to have been between US$4 million and US$8 million.

Ramaphosa didn’t report the theft at any police station.

This week, the Noordoewer Magistrate’s Court scheduled the matter for two days, but the State failed to subpoena any witnesses. The investigating officer, Isak Anton, was not present in court.

The same court previously found Erastus and Thomas guilty for their role in helping David enter Namibia illegally in August 2020 and sentenced each to six months direct imprisonment and a N$ 4 000 fine.

Ngalangi’s lawyer, Vetumbuavi Uanivi, confirmed his client was planning to sue the State.

David was arrested, along with Ramaphosa’s former domestic worker, Floriana Joseph, and her brother, Ndilinasho.

- Sunday World