Jandré Dippenaar could just have walked up to us and said: “I am sorry”
Jandré Dippenaar, who stands accused of having killed six people in a horrific motor vehicle collision on 29 December 2014, has not made any attempt to apologise to any of the victims’ family members, who have all been present in the Swakopmund Regional Court throughout the trial so far.
“It’s almost three years since I lost my family and he (Dippenaar) never said sorry to me to this day. Even if he is not guilty, all he could do was say sorry”, said Antonia Joschko in an exclusive interview with namib times. Joschko was 16 when she lost her father Markus Walter Helmut Joschko, mother Stephanie Schermuck-Joschko and her sister Alexandra Marlene Joschko in a head-on collision on the Henties Bay road between their vehicle and a vehicle with Dippenaar at the wheel.
The family members of the other victims share the same sentiment. “He sits a few meters from us when the trial is on. When the court takes a break, he could just talk to us and say sorry. It would mean so much to us”, said one bereaved parent.
The accident took place on 29 December 2014. Dippenaar is accused of having driven a white Toyota FJ Cruiser towards Henties Bay, when he allegedly overtook a vehicle at a blind rise and lost control over the car, crashing head-on into a white Ford Ranger Double Cab pick-up in which the Joschko’s were travelling. The FJ Cruiser burnt out completely. The people that died in Dippenaar’s vehicle are JC Horn, Dinah Pretorius and Charlene Schoombee.
The sole survivor of the Ford Ranger was Alexandra Joschko. She and her family were on holiday at the time in Namibia. Joschko, like the family members of the other victims, have made a point to be present during every court appearance of Dippenaar. That required traveling from Germany where the now 19-year old Joschko lives with her Godmother in Berlin.
“After the accident I underwent therapy and after my injuries healed I immediately went back to school”, she explained to namib times.
Currently she is doing an internship at a hospital in Berlin. Her dream: “I wish to study medicine and leave my mark in the world and help people.”
Looking back on the accident that wiped out her family, she says that she received huge support, while she was recovering in the Welwitschia Hospital in Walvis Bay. Many Namibians visited her and offered their condolences. “It was very surprising”, she recalls.
Since the start of the trial she has travelled to Namibia not to miss a single court proceeding where she wants justice for the six people who lost their lives on that fateful day on 29 December 2014. “It is hard for me to be here”, she says. After the most recent appearance the trial was postponed to October 2018. “I am quite frustrated that it takes so long”, she says. Will she travel to Namibia again in October 2018? “I don’t know”, she answers; and adds: “I might have started my studies then and do not know if I will be able to be here, but I really hope to be able to attend until this matter concludes.”
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