Johannesburg - The ANC had a “wonderful engagement” with the president. These were the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa after his meeting with his Namibian counterpart, Hage Geingob, on the first day of the three-day ANC NEC meeting in the Birchwood Hotel, Boksburg.
Ramaphosa, who on Saturday briefly spoke to members of the media following his visit to the lawyer and former student activist Tiego Moseneke in Pretoria, Ramaphosa told reporters that the death of Moseneke was a great loss to the ANC. Moseneke, who is former Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke’s brother, passed away in a car accident on Wednesday. Ramaphosa briefly took a break from the ANC NEC meeting to pay his respects to the Moseneke family on Saturday.
"I have come here to pay my condolences following the passing of Moseneke. A loss of a brother to Judge Moseneke is devastating. I feel great sadness because I knew Tiego. He was a very loyal member of the ANC. I have great respect for him as a businessman, and as a human being, he will be among those we will miss for the attributes that he had as a human being. His passing was a bit too early, and we will miss him dearly," Ramaphosa told reporters.
His visit to the family came a day after the Namibian president met with members of the NEC on Friday, with Ramaphosa saying interactions between himself and Geingob were about the strong relations between the ANC and SWAPO and did not involve the Phala Phala matter.
Last year, it was revealed that Namibian nationals were involved in the theft of US dollars at Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in February 2020.
"Both our organisations, SWAPO and the ANC, are liberation movements; there is a lot that we share... As liberation movements, SWAPO and the ANC are inextricably linked, and during our meeting we exchanged views on the journey SWAPO has been traversing since independence, reflecting both on challenges and achievements," Ramaphosa said.
Ramaphosa said the ANC was honoured to have heard his counterpart address members of the ANC NEC.
"He is the first head of state and member of the liberation movement to have come to address members of the ANC NEC. Yesterday (Friday), we made history because this has never happened with the ANC.
"So that was a great deal of pride for us. We discussed a little bit about BRICS and the summit that is coming in August. Of course, we did not get into the details that you want me to talk about the impending coming of President Putin or not. We are still discussing that matter. We will be clarifying our position in time," he said.
The Star