Iuze Mukube
Matheus David
Crime is a prevalent offense in society, yet some of the crimes that occurred in the Land of the Brave left the nation traumatised and raised serious concerns about public safety. These crimes, including brutal murders, violent attacks, and other serious offenses, exposed a darker side of society.
Namdia robbery
On 18 January 2025, four suspected armed robbers stormed Namdia, held employees hostage, and stole diamonds worth over N$200 million. Joel Angula and Sam Shololo were arrested. Security supervisor Francis Eiseb (57) was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Max Endjala, a suspect, reportedly turned the gun on himself. Photo: The Namibian
Serial killings in Okahandja
The small town of Okahandja, along with the nation, was left reeling in shock following the murders of three girls, suspected to have been murdered and raped as part of a series of serial killings in the area. Ingrid Maasdorp, five years old; Roswinds Fabianu, six years old; and Beyonce Kharuxas, 15 years old, were found, battered and bearing signs of sexual assault, between March and April this year.
Family Massacre in Usakos
A heinous murder shocked the community: an 18-year-old relative killed six family members in April using an iron axe and arson, including his grandmother, Elisabeth Naruses, and other children.
Photo: NBC
Hengari’s rape case
Mac-Albert Hengari, ex-minister of agriculture, was arrested in April after reports of trying to bribe a rape case victim with over N$200 000. He faced charges of defeating justice.
Photo: Heather Erdmann
Namcor rot
Twelve or more people were arrested over two to three months for allegedly stealing over N$400 million from Namcor, sparking public outrage over corruption.
Photo: Heather Erdmann
Wanaheda rental scam murders
Fiina Florence Nghifikwa (39), shot during a robbery in Wanaheda on 22 July 2025, was believed to be a victim of a scam syndicate that lured women with false rental room offers. She was with her five-year-old son and another victim, who were held at gunpoint, shot, and later died at Katutura Health Centre.
‘Killer’ Father
Thomas Sheya was charged with strangling his two children, Andreas (2) and Ruusa (4), in Onkani village, Oshikoto, in September. He allegedly twisted their heads and then texted relatives and the children’s mother, claiming he killed them and asking them to collect them from a water tank.
Katima Mulilo wife ‘killer’
Steven Sydney !Naruseb was arrested for the death of his wife in Katima Mulilo in Zambezi region. The deceased, Rachel Simasiku, according to neighbors was heard screaming for help on the day of the incident. The accused locked the house after neighbors attempted to help the deceased and later walked out, told them to call the police, and that “he was done.”
Grandmother killed by grandson
A 26-year-old man with a mental illness allegedly killed his 88-year-old grandmother by hacking her with a panga, injured his seven-year-old nephew and 14-year-old niece in June at Oshikuyu, Ohangwena region, then pushed her into a fire and set her alight.
NDF employee shot dead
Two Namibia Defence Force members died in a Windhoek West shooting, with one injured. Abner Shilemba (33) allegedly shot his ex-girlfriend, Justine Metumo Nelenge (34), then himself. A 54-year-old man, who had dropped Nelenge off, was also shot in the arm. Police said the incident stemmed from their relationship ending that morning. Photos: File
Naked body at People’s Primary School
In Katutura, police found the body of an unidentified woman naked near a fence behind People’s Primary School. Torn clothes and a condom wrapper nearby indicated rape. She was later identified as 33-year-old Juanita Karolus.
Fire disaster
On the other hand, the nation witnessed a relentless wildfire that destroyed most of Etosha National Park in October this year. The fire caused damage and raised concerns about inadequate planning, insufficient water, and poor roads.
Court cases
Barnabas Nawaseb (32)
A Khorixas resident was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment for the murder of his domestic partner, Metisia Tanises (32), whom he fatally attacked with a pickaxe on 20-21 December 2022. The sentence was issued on 06 June 2025 in the Windhoek High Court.
Jacob Sikerete Sadwere (23)
A Rundu resident received a 22-year sentence for killing his biological mother, Annastasis Tjangano Likuwa, with a hoe after she warned him not to rejoin a fight at a shebeen on 23 April 2023 near Ekuli village in Rundu.
Vapeni Lucia Boois (37)
A former police officer was sentenced to 23 years for murdering her one-year-old, Amare Alejandro Jose Boois, on 10 November 2023, at Farm Bucholtzbrunn near Bethanie in the //Kharas region. She stabbed the victim repeatedly and buried his body.
Photo: Heather Erdmann
Gavin Gawanab (31)
Serial rapist Gavin Gawanab was sentenced to 57 years and three months in prison for a series of rapes, attempted rapes, and assaults on young women and children in September. Convicted on 14 counts from offences starting in 2012 until his 2018 arrest, he faced charges including rape of minors, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, housebreaking with intent to rape, indecent assault, and crimen injuria.
Hendrik Le Roux (61) & Borris Le Roux (31)
A father and son were sentenced for killing Carlos Le Roux (24) on 9 April 2021 in Mariental. Hendrik received 25 years, Borris 20, for assault with hosepipes on the deceased.
Bernadus Afrikaner (37) and Salathiel Unaeb (49)
The two were accused of killing elderly couple Armin Siegfried Riedel (68) and Brunhild Riedel (66) at their Gobabis farm in 2018. They received 30-year sentences for murder, three years for robbery with aggravating circumstances, and Afrikaner got 18 months for unlawful firearm supply. Unaeb received three months for assault. The couple’s bodies were burnt after their house was torched following their deaths.
Thomas Muronga (30)
The father was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment in December for killing his two-year-old son, Jason Muronga, by repeatedly slamming the child’s head on a concrete pillar near a railway in Otavi on 25 August 2023. He also received 18 months for threatening the child’s
mother and 18 months for assaulting police.
Arnold Khamseb (50)
A Khorixas resident received life imprisonment for killing his 46-year-old ex-partner and mother of his children, after stabbing her in the neck on Christmas Day 2019, and for a sexual assault charge.
Denzel Xavier Dawids (25)
A Gobabis resident sentenced to 14 years for Yolanda Regina McCullum’s murder, hit by his vehicle on 01 October 2023. He also received five years each for two attempted murder counts, three months for common assault, six months each for two other common assaults, and a N$2000 fine for malicious damage to property, or six months’ imprisonment if unpaid.
Maria Johanna Cloete (52)
She was sentenced to seven years for 18 counts of fraud and theft involving N$2.8 million from Windhoek International School. An additional five-year term for money laundering was ordered to run concurrently.