Fatal crash

Staff Reporter

Jandré Dippenaar caused car crash which killed 6 -accident expert testifies

A vehicle accident reconstruction expert testified Jandré Dippenaar caused the fatal head-on collision near Henties Bay on 29 December 2014, in which six people lost their lives.

South African vehicle accident expert Johan Joubert testified before magistrate Gaynor Paulton in the Swakopmund regional court on Monday. According to his calculations, Dippenaar’s FJ Cruiser slammed into the rented Ford Ranger of a German family at a speed of 147,6 km/h. Dippenaar, according to his testimony, was overtaking vehicles at high speed as he was approaching the crest of a blind hill. The crash took place virtually on the crest of the hill.

Since the conclusion of his testimony on Tuesday, Joubert has been under a marathon cross-examination by Dippenaar’s seasoned legal team, lawyer Petrie Theron and advocate Louis Botes.  The State is represented by Prosecutors Ethel Ndlovu and Faith Chipepera-Nyaungwa.

The Joschko’s, a family from Germany, who toured Namibia in their rented Ford Ranger, was traveling from Henties Bay in the direction of Swakopmund when Dippenaar’s FJ Cruiser, traveling from the direction of Swakopmund, slammed into them at high speed. The maximum speed allowed on the road is 100 km/h. According to Joubert the Joschko’s were traveling at 85 km/h.

The Joschko couple and one of their daughters were killed instantly. The only survivor in their car was Antonia Joschko, the couple’s youngest daughter. Antonia Joschko is now the sole survivor of her family. On that fateful day she was the one moment still enjoying her holiday with her family, and the next moment she held her deceased sister’s hand in the mingled wreck of their car. She knew already at that moment she would be faced with the horror news: not only her sister, but also both her parents were dead.

In Dippenaar’s vehicle he too was the sole survivor. The three passengers in his vehicle, JC Horn, Charlene Schoombee and Dinah Pretorius, were also killed instantly.

Dippenaar among others faces six counts of murder.

The trial is scheduled for adjournment today and will resume next month when another five days for the trial was reserved. Dippenaar’s defense will also bring in a vehicle crash expert.