SWAKOPMUND - A key witness of the Jandre Dippenaar defence team is currently being investigated by the Namibian Police in Erongo after a case of assault by threatening was lodged against the said witness by state witness Johan Joubert.
The witness of the Dippenaar defence team, whose name is known to New Era, has allegedly threatened to ‘break the neck’ of state witness and forensic expert, Joubert, a South African who has since reported the threats to police.
The witness accused of threatening Joubert is part of Dippenaar’s defence team. The said witness is arguing in favour of Dippenaar, who is out to prove that he did not cause the accident that claimed the lives of six people who died in a fatal car crash on 29 December 2014 between Swakopmund and Henties Bay.
Dippenaar, who was driving an FJ Cruiser, was travelling with Dinah Pretorius (30), Charlene Schoombe (24), and Jan Carel Horn (26) when he allegedly crashed into a Ford Ranger of a German family that was touring Namibia.
Dippenaar was the only survivor in that vehicle, while the Germans, who perished in the accident, were Markus Joschko (48), his wife Stephanie Joschko (49), and their 19-year-old daughter Alexandra Joschko.
Antonia Joschko, a daughter in the German family now aged 20, was the only survivor from the Ford Ranger.
Deputy Commissioner, Erastus Iikuyu, told New Era over the weekend that the said witness allegedly threated to break Joubert’s neck or will find someone to do it.
According to Iikuyu, the threats were made between 8 October and 12 October in front of the Swakopmund Regional Court, where Dippenaar’s case is being heard.
Joubert, during the said time, was testifying in the regional court, and he indicated that Dippenaar caused the accident. He also testified that speed, as well as reckless driving contributed to the fatal accident.
He told the court that his calculations are based on the vehicle types, weights of the eight occupants, the road landscape, conditions and marks on the road caused by the impact, as well as the damages of vehicles and their final position after the crash.
It is believed that the threats were made after he made his testimony in court.
Iikuyu yesterday said that the suspect has not yet been arrested, and that an investigation is ongoing.