The onus is on the prosecutor general to decide if the State will prosecute Namibia Qualifications Authority’s CEO Franz Gertze for shooting his wife six times last year.  
The 55-year-old Gertze is currently charged with a main count of attempted murder and two alternative counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and negligent discharging of a firearm for shooting his wife Anita Gertze (29).

Gertze made a court appearance before magistrate Linus Samunzala last week. His defence attorney Trevor Brokerhoff and prosecutor Precious Matali agreed to have the matter postponed to 1 July for the prosecutor general’s decision. 
The State, however informed the court that only a photo plan is missing and once it has been obtained, the docket would be sent to the prosecutor general for a decision. 

Gertze who is currently on bail, was arrested in November 2019 when he shot his wife six times, landing her in hospital in a severe condition at the time. 

At the time of his arrest, Gertze informed the police that he heard intruders walking into his house and that he fired his rifle randomly in the bedroom that he shares with his wife. 

Upon police inspection on the property, they established that there was no sign that the house was broken into by the alleged intruders. 
However, after the victim recovered, in a statement that was read in court, Anita refuted claims that Gertze was trying to kill her.  She informed the court that she was trying to prevent her husband from committing suicide on the fateful day but got shot while they were fighting for the weapon. 
– mamakali@nepc.com.na