Judge Collins Parker has postponed the civil case between Dr. Job Amupanda and Maureen Hinda-Mbeunde, the Deputy Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, to March 12, 2024.

He set aside 12 and 13 March for the continuation of Dr. Amupanda's cross-examination by Hinda-Mbeunde's legal counsel, Doris Hans-Kaumbi.

Hans-Kaumbi could not finalise the questioning today, and the court had to adjourn until next year, which both teams wanted to avoid, but Judge Parker indicated his availability on the bench in 2024.

The cross-examination was mainly around semantics in the words that Dr. Amupanda used in his social media postings, which were the basis of the N$1 million lawsuit against him by the deputy minister.

Dr. Amupanda said he is not familiar with and has never used words such as 'sugar mama' and does not know their meaning.

He stuck to the quotes in a newspaper article where he said, 'It is what happens when you'reject sugar from the mamma'.

He explained that, in context, the lawsuit is a consequence of his rejection of the advances from the deputy minister.

However, Dr. Amupanda, when asked for evidence, could not produce any communication from the deputy minister indicating that she sought a proximity relationship with him.

The postings, comments, and emails he referred to were communications such as 'You have grown now and are more handsome'. Hinda-Mbuende has allegedly said this to him in a one-on-one discussion.

Another posting was when he had an engagement in Tses, where the deputy minister allegedly sent a text saying, 'Don't tell me you left'. He submitted these as evidence of advances from her wanting a promixity relationship with him.

Hans-Kaumbi also accused Dr. Amupanda of altering his initial social media posting, where he referred to an unknown woman who allegedly resembles the deputy minister.

She produced evidence in court on how the defendant allegedly changed the original posting from Maureen Hinda to 'Looks like Deputy Minister of Finance'.

Hinda-Mbuende has indicated to the nbc that she will file a case against Dr. Amupanda for perjury, which is allegedly lying under oath.

The cross-examination will resume on March 12, 2024.