South African Sweet Potato Stew

Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil or coconut oil 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into dice (optional) 1 tsp crushed chillies/hot pepper flakes (optional) ½ tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp coconut ground or brown sugar 300g/10 ½ oz sweet potato, cut into cubes 400g/14 oz/scant 12/3 cups