Best way to transport personal Items to Panama David

This is a tricky one. The cheapest way to ship is via container ships, but they usually want you to buy an entire container, which is far more space than you'd need. Have you tried contacting a moving company in SA? Here in Panama, I'd suggest contacting Canal Movers https://canalmovers.com/index-en.php to see if they have some insights into getting your stuff to Panama. If you explain that there is no rush and you could wait to consolidate with another family to share a container, you might be able to get a better price. It's just a guess.

Another, albeit out-of-the-box idea would be to contact a South African company that exports to Panama. The one that comes to mind is Ceres the juice makers to see if they ship directly to Panama or if they ship to another country fist (say the US) before the shipments are further broken down for distribution. Explain your situation and they just might (although it's doubtful) let you share a container.

A third possibility is to ship your goods to a freight forwarder in the US and then have them shipped via boat to Panama. I have had heavy items shipped from the US to Panama that way and it's quite reasonable. I use Mailboxes Etc. I know they have an office in Boquete. They could set you up with an account and the address in Miami that they use for maritime shipping. It would probably be far easier to find a way to ship your goods to the US first, then on to Panama than look for a direct route to Panama from SA.

A final thought would be to contact a maritime shipping company in SA to see if they have boats that transit the Panama Canal and offload here and accept less than a full container's worth of goods.

I'm not sure if any of these suggestions help, but it's worth a try.

@kgilberg59 Thank you so much for the ideas.... I will look into these options for sure.  Really appreciate it.

@BarbaraSA One thing I forgot to mention is that once the goods are in Panama City, it's easy to get them to David with a company called Fletes Chavale.

@kgilberg59 Appreciate it greatly... thank you

Look at the prices for "extra baggage"  that may be the easiest and if not the least expensive way to bring them with you.