Sostenus Wilherm
A N$97.2 million debt dispute between The Spar Group Limited and businessman Herman Nekomba has shifted to his insolvent estate, with the High Court ordering that his trustees take over his role in the litigation.
The High Court on Tuesday ordered that Nekomba be removed from the proceedings in his personal capacity and replaced by the trustees of his insolvent estate, William de Villiers Schickerling and Ian Robert McLaren.
The court further ordered that Omuthiya Classic Investments CC, trading as Omuthiya Build It, be represented by Schickerling and McLaren in their capacities as liquidators of the company.
The orders do not resolve the underlying dispute, but allow Spar’s multimillion-dollar claim to proceed against the parties legally authorised to represent Nekomba and the affected company following their insolvency and liquidation.
Spar is claiming N$97,215,114.41, together with interest, from Nekomba and several companies linked to him.
According to Spar’s particulars of claim, Nekomba and the companies acknowledged a debt of N$113,961,857 in terms of a master settlement and acknowledgment of debt agreement concluded in August 2022.
The agreement recorded that the amount was “due and payable”, according to the court papers.
Spar alleges that financing expected under the settlement agreement failed to materialise, resulting in an obligation on the parties to settle the full outstanding debt.
The company claims the parties subsequently “failed to comply with their obligations” under the settlement and guarantee agreements.
Spar says it demanded payment on 5 October 2022, but the debt was not fully settled. After payments allegedly made by one or more of the parties, the amount outstanding stood at N$97,215,114.41, excluding interest.
The defendants include Nekomba, Stream Ten Holdings (Pty) Ltd, Stream Two Properties CC, Omuthiya Classic Investments CC, Glossary Trading CC, Otjinene Retail CC and IBuild Supplies (Pty) Ltd.
The court papers describe an extensive web of credit agreements, guarantees and suretyships linking Nekomba and the companies to Spar over several years.
Spar alleges that Nekomba personally signed suretyships in its favour in 2017 and 2019, undertaking liability for debts owed by Stream Ten and Stream Two.
The claim further states that Stream Ten and Omuthiya Classic entered into suretyship agreements in March 2022 covering debts owed by related entities, including Stream Two and IBuild Supplies.
The dispute also involves several properties across Namibia that Spar says were provided as security through mortgage bonds.
The properties are situated in Omuthiya, Otavi, Gobabis, Windhoek and Nkurenkuru.
Spar is seeking an order compelling payment of the outstanding N$97.2 million, together with interest. It is also seeking orders declaring certain immovable properties specially executable.
The latest court order effectively changes the parties representing Nekomba and Omuthiya Classic in the proceedings, ensuring that the case can continue despite Nekomba’s insolvency and the liquidation of the company.
The underlying N$97.2 million claim therefore remains before the court.
The matter has been postponed to 17 November 2026 at 08:30 for a status hearing, with the parties ordered to file a joint status report by 11 November 2026.
