Eyewitness: Dippenaar was on the wrong side of the road

A key witness in the murder trial against Jandré Dippenaar saw the fatal motor vehicle accident happening “right in front of her eyes” on 29 December 2014 – she saw Dippenaar driving “recklessly” in the “wrong lane” and thereby, having caused the head-on collision which claimed the lives of six people.
In the high-profile murder trial against Jandré Dippenaar in the Swakopmund Regional Court, Hazel Oosthuizen took to the witness stand yesterday. Her testimony was filled with countless incriminating statements. It was an emotional testimony for the family members of the victims present in court, as she relived the horrific events of that day.
According to Oosthuizen, her husband, herself as well as three passengers were on their way to Henties Bay from Swakopmund on 29 December 2014. She too was paying attention to the road, although her husband was behind the steering wheel.
About twelve kilometers from Henties Bay, she saw in the mirror a white car approaching, “which was very close to us.” There were no cars travelling in front of them. Her husband, who was driving the vehicle, was traveling at about 95 kilometers per hour.
“I saw a car overtaking us on the right side. It was a white Toyota FJ Cruiser. The driver was accelerating so fast that he lost control over the vehicle”, she said.
“And, after overtaking, the FJ Cruiser tried to enter the left lane again, but the driver lost control and swerved from the left lane to the right.”
All this, according to Oosthuizen, occurred at a blind crest. There was a blind spot and they were unable to see oncoming traffic. “We were a few seconds behind when he (Dippenaar) was going over the blind spot. I saw the FJ Cruiser collide with a Ford Ranger pick-up”, she said. Oosthuizen maintained she clearly saw the accident occur on the right lane (when traveling from South to North.”
“I saw the Ford overturn and land on its roof. The FJ Cruiser shook and came to a rest in the road and immediately burst into flames”, Oosthuizen continued. She added that she was “upset and angry” as the accident could have been prevented. “The driver (Dippenaar) was driving recklessly. It wouldn’t have happened if the person (Dippenaar) followed the rules of the road”, she said.
Oosthuizen continued that her husband immediately stopped and together with another unknown person pulled Dippenaar out of the driver side window of the FJ Cruiser. “As he (Dippenaar) was lying on the road a short distance from the vehicle I remember my husband standing over him and screaming “Jy is gesuip, Jy is gesuip.”
The former Rally driver Dippenaar is accused of having caused this head-on collision on the road between Swakopmund and Henties in December 2014, he was driving a white Toyota FJ Cruiser and was the sole survivor of that vehicle. The victims were JC Horn, Dinah Pretorius and Charlene Schoombee.
In the other vehicle, a white Ford Ranger, traveled a German family on holiday in Namibia. The sole survivor in the Ford Ranger was Antonia Joschko, who was 16 at the time. In this accident she lost her father Markus Walter Helmut Joschko, her mother Stephanie Schermuck-Joschko and her sister Alexandra Marlene Joschko.
During Oosthuizen’s testimony, Dippenaar was sitting in the dock, well-groomed and dressed in a suit. He showed no emotion, only briefly looking up at the witness every now and then. The matter continued yesterday at 14:00 with the cross-examination of the witness by Dippenaar’s defense council, Advocate Louis Botes.