SWAKOPMUND – The trial of Jandre Dippenaar, who is accused of murder in the aftermath of a fatal car crash in December 2014, was postponed to 18 November for a second expert witness to testify.
Dippenaar who was driving an FJ Cruiser was with Dinah Pretorius (30), Charlene Schoombe (24) and Jan Carel Horn (26) when he allegedly crashed into a Ford Ranger of a German family touring Namibia. The crash occurred between Swakopmund and Henties Bay.
The Germans were Markus Joschko (48), his wife Stephanie Joschko (49), and their 19-year-old daughter Alexandra Joschko.
Antonia Joschko, now 20, was the only survivor along with Dippenaar.
Last week state witness and expert Johan Joubert reconstructed the accident scene using a software programme when he took the witness stand.
Joubert during his testimony said the accident couldn’t be prevented and that Dippenaar caused the accident. He also indicated that speed as well as reckless driving contributed to the fatal accident.
He told the court 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 damage to the vehicles and their final positions after the crash.
According to Joubert, Dippenaar, whose FJ Cruiser clocked around 147 kilometres per hour in a 100km/h zone, caused the accident.
However Advocate Louis Botes, who is part of Dippenaar’s defence, during cross-examination argued that Joubert’s calculations of the accident were wrong and that he manipulated some of the data, hence they will not hold up in court.
According to Botes they will also call a crucial witness that will testify that Dippenaar was travelling in the correct lane and that it was the driver of the tourists who was in the wrong lane.
“The Ford Ranger was approaching the oncoming lane at an angle before colliding with the oncoming vehicle, while outside of its own lane, and we will prove it,” Botes
said.