Veteran defence lawyer dies

A VETERAN defence lawyer who was a widely-known figure in Namibia’s courts, André Louw, died in Windhoek over the past weekend.

Louw died in the Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek early on Sunday morning, his secretary, Salomé Kruger, said yesterday.He had been admitted to the hospital eleven days earlier, but his condition steadily worsened, she said. He was suffering from a bleeding ulcer, and finally suffered respiratory failure, Kruger said.Louw turned 60 years of age last month.Always sharply dressed, Louw was a gentlemanly figure who was a familiar sight in many of Namibia’s regional and magistrate’s courts.He practised his profession mostly in Namibia’s lower courts, where he has been representing hundreds of accused persons in criminal cases over the course of his career.One of the presiding officers in front of whom Louw has appeared in numerous cases, Windhoek Regional Court Magistrate Sarel Jacobs, described him yesterday as ‘a very neat lawyer and always a very respectful person’.’A good lawyer,’ Jacobs summarised his opinion of Louw. He said Louw was always respectful towards the court where he appeared, and was also someone that one could respect in return. ‘A respectable lawyer,’ Jacobs said.Kruger, who has been working for Louw for more than 21 years, described him as a ‘brilliant’ employer.She said he was a neat and hardworking man who was in the habit of also going to his office over weekends to work and consult with clients. He rarely took holidays, preferring to rather work during the December holiday period when most other law firms take a break, she recalled.To his own detriment, he often agreed to assist clients who could not afford to pay for his services, so he sometimes worked without being paid, she said.Louw was born at Usakos, completed his high school education in Windhoek, and then studied law at the University of Pretoria, where he graduated with a B.Proc. degree in early 1976.He was admitted as a legal practitioner in early 1978, and later started his own law firm, André Louw & Company, in Windhoek.He was divorced and has two adult children, who live in South Africa.

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