Dippenaar faces murder charges

JANDRE Dippenaar will make his first appearance in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on 30 October after the prosecutor general decided recently that he must face charges of murder, fraud and driving a vehicle without a valid driver’s licence.

Dippenaar, a well-known Namibian motoring personality, was involved in a horrific car accident on 29 December 2014 between Swakopmund and Henties Bay in which six people including three German tourists, died.

The deceased were German nationals Walter Helmut Joschko (48), Stephanie Dorothea Schemick Joschko (49), and 19-year-old Alexandra Marlene Joschko; and Namibians Dinah Pretorius (30), Charlene Schoombe (24) and JC Horn (27).

Dippenaar and 16-year-old Antonia (Toni) Klara Joschko were the only survivors.

Soon after the accident, Toni Joschko returned to Germany where she is under the care of relatives who have to rely on donations for the teenager’s basic needs.

The Namibian attempted to contact the family in Germany through the German embassy in Windhoek in vain. Officials at the embassy assured a message was sent to them, “but it is up to them to decide whether they want to speak to the media or not”.

The family had not responded to the request by the time of going to press.

Hezekiel Iipinge, the chief prosecutor at the Swakopmund Magistrate’s court confirmed the date of Dippenaar’s first appearance. The Namibian understands that the Joschko family will be represented by a Namibian lawyer. The accident happened about 12 kilometres outside Henties Bay in the Jakkalsputz vicinity. It is alleged that one vehicle was in the process of overtaking another when it drove into an oncoming vehicle. The FJ Cruiser that Dippenaar was driving, burst into flames after impact with the three deceased still trapped in it.

The Joschko family, who were touring Namibia at the time, were driving the Ford Ranger.