Staff Reporter
ANTONIA Joschko, who was 16 years old when her family was killed in a car accident near Henties Bay on 29 December 2014, will have to wait until the end of February 2026 to hear the outcome of a civil suit against the man convicted of culpable homicide in connection with the accident.
Joschko, who initially claimed more than N$14 million from Jandré Dippenaar (42), has revised the amount to just over N$6 million. While Dippenaar was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for the accident that claimed the lives of Markus and Stephanie Joschko and their 19-year-old daughter, Alexandre, the sole surviving family member, Antonia, is seeking damages for emotional trauma, loss of a support system, and funeral costs.
In an affidavit filed towards the end of last year, Joschko recounted the fateful day that changed her life forever.
“In the moments leading up to the collision, I remember that my father was driving the vehicle and my mother was sitting next to him in the front left seat. My sister was sitting directly behind my mother, and I was seated behind my father. All of us had our seatbelts on. I remember that the radio was playing softly in the background, and I was turned slightly towards my left and towards the centre of the vehicle, as I was engaging my sister and my mother in conversation. I remember that we were laughing at ourselves because we were dressed in really ‘touristy’ type clothing, which is typical of the clothing that German tourists wear when they are ‘on safari in Africa’,” Antonia recounted.
She added that, without warning, a white vehicle with a silver-coloured bar in front, driven by Dippenaar, appeared directly in front of their vehicle and was fast approaching.
She said that although her father attempted to swerve out of the left lane, from which the oncoming vehicle was approaching, it was too late.
“It was as if all of us saw the car at the same time. Almost instantaneously upon observing the vehicle, I remember hearing a collective gasp of shock from my parents and my sister, and the next thing I remember was a loud crash,” Antonia said.
She added that moments after the crash, she held her sister’s hand, but it was cold and limp, which frightened her due to the lack of reaction.
“One of the onlookers broke the window and pulled me out of the car by my arms, which caused me excruciating pain in my stomach and abdominal area. The ambulances, emergency medical personnel, and paramedics arrived at the scene reasonably quickly and initially attended to Mr Dippenaar first. I remember that this made me angry because I was in pain, and nobody was attending to my injuries,” Antonia said.
She added that after being transferred from Swakopmund State Hospital to Walvis Bay State Hospital, she was informed by a doctor that her parents and sister had passed away.
“I remained in Walvis Bay Hospital until 31 December 2014 and was discharged before then as I did not want to spend New Year in hospital. My travel insurance company organised for a doctor to be flown from Germany to Walvis Bay, who would then accompany me back to Germany on a commercial flight. Despite this, I did not want to return to Germany immediately and wanted to stay in Namibia to celebrate my mother’s birthday, as that was, after all, the whole reason we had come to Namibia. After we celebrated my mother’s birthday, I flew back to Germany,” Antonia said.
She added that the total cost of the funeral and burial amounted to €5,743.35, which translates to N$116,556.69, while her claim includes N$5.4 million for loss of support and N$500,000 in general damages.
