Iuze Mukube

Andries Coetzee, whom the Gobabis Regional Court convicted for killing his partner, is appealing his conviction in the Windhoek High Court.

Coetzee (38) was convicted of murder for allegedly stabbing his romantic partner Endeline Tjombe with a sharp object between 14 and 15 June 2017.

Court documents state that he is appealing against the conviction of murder and the sentence of 18 years imprisonment, of which four years were suspended for a period.

In his appeal, Coetzee alleges that the State failed to prove that the death of his former romantic partner was a result of a stab wound or that the wound caused her death, as she never complained of being in pain or sick at the time.

The State had submitted that his version was to be rejected, as it was found to have been made as an afterthought or unreliable. 

 It was changed from what he had allegedly informed witnesses or police officers after his arrest.

Coetzee’s version of events are that, on the fateful night between 14 and 15 June 2025, he engaged in a confrontation with the deceased. 

This led to him acting in self-defence against the deceased.

He stated that the deceased found him sleeping at home and attacked him with an iron bar.

However, after he removed the iron bar from her, she got hold of a knife. 

 During the scuffle, the iron bar scratched the arm of the deceased, which is alleged to be the cause of death.

Coetzee said that the deceased was later bumped by a car on 15 June 2022 and taken to the hospital.

The postmortem report indicated that the victim died because of a stab wound, which the State alleged was inflicted by the accused on 14 June 2017.

In his head of argument, the accused submitted that he is a lay person. 

He said he could not have foreseen that death might follow by observing the nature, extent or severity of the wound. 

He said his appeal should be upheld.

The matter was supposed to be heard in court yesterday but was postponed to 24 October 2026. 

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