The families of David Nashidengo (26) and Coverdale Pandereepo (26) have finally received the death certificates of their sons who died in Cape Town just over 10 days ago.
This was confirmed by Pandereepo’s father, Theofilus, yesterday.
Nashidengo, Pandereepo and one more student were allegedly in the crossfire of the taxi strike in Cape Town on 12 August when they were attempting to avoid rocks on the N1 road, lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
A week-long minibus taxi strike which turned violent in Cape Town led to the death of five people.
This is what the families were told about the deaths of their sons, however, the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation has a different version.
The ministry’s executive director, Penda Naanda, told The Namibian late on Monday that they were in a car crash in Cape Town at about 01h00 on Saturday, 12 August.
“The three Namibian men are said to have been travelling in a vehicle that belonged to one of the deceased on the N1 national road at the Koeberg Interchange to Cape Town’s central business district, when the driver lost control of the vehicle and overturned,” Naanda said.
He said a third Namibian male sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a local hospital for treatment.
“The young man who survived was identified as 27-year-old Dylan Ndeupao Germano, who was admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town,” Naanda said.
Meanwhile, Theofilus told The Namibian that the family were informed that their sons lost control as a result of the rocks and debris on the road.
He said after the accident they were stripped and robbed.
“The problem is when they hit the tree, the people stripped them, took their clothes off their bodies, took their stuff in the car, and when the police arrived they were naked, just naked,” Theofilus said.
He said there were valuables such as laptops in the car.
The family hopes to hear a full account of the events from the surviving student, since the Namibian government has not been helpful, Theofilus said.
“The government of ours, they don’t care,” the father said when asked about the assistance the family has received.
Questions on this accusation to the ministry were not answered by the time of going to print.
The ministry responded a week after The Namibian requested information about the incident.
When first contacted, Naanda said he was off at the time and referred The Namibian to Rebekka Iyambo, who was acting in his role.
Attempts to get hold of Iyambo through messages to ministry spokesperson Roman Kanjore went unanswered.
Naanda responded late on Monday after returning to the office.
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