Niël Terblanché
Jandre Dippenaar, who was convicted on, amongst others, six counts of murder in the Swakopmund Regional Court in June, will have to wait until Friday to hear what his eventual fate concerning his sentencing would be.
Magistrate Gaynor Paulton, in her judgement delivered in June, also found Dippenaar guilty of one count of reckless and negligent driving and a count of driving a vehicle without a valid driver’s license.
The guilty verdict stems from a horrific motor vehicle accident on 29 December 2014, near Henties Bay, in which six people lost their lives.
Three of the deceased persons, Dinah Pretorius, Charlene Schoombee and JC Horn, were close friends of the convicted person and the remaining three deceased persons, Walter Helmut Joschko, Stephanie Dorothea Schemick Joschko, and Alexandra Marlene Joschko, were members of a family from Germany who, at the time of the incident, were on a self-drive tour through Namibia.
Dippenaar appeared in court on Tuesday to enter his plea for the mitigation of sentencing. He has been in police custody since Magistrate Poulton revoked his bail after she pronounced the guilty verdict.
While in the witness dock, the convicted person apologised to JC Horn’s parents.
Dippenaar also offered his sincere apology to Antonia Joschko, who is the only other survivor of the head-on collision.
Other mitigatory factors Dippenaar attested to in mitigation of sentencing were that he is the father of two children, for which he has to provide financially.
He also testified that he is responsible for the livelihood and well-being of at least 80 people in his father’s company, where he holds a senior managerial position.
When the trial continues today, Dippenaar intends to call two more witnesses to testify in mitigation of his sentencing.
In view of the fact that the two witnesses were not present at court when the convicted person finished testifying yesterday, Magistrate Paulton postponed the matter until today.
The magistrate also informed the convicted person that if the mitigation and aggravation part of the trial is concluded on Thursday, sentencing would in all probability occur on Friday, 23 August.
