What’s in a name?

A 53-year-old Namibian man from Windhoek has found himself increasingly in the spotlight following media reports of a German tourist allegedly raping a 21-year-old man at Swakopmund last week.

The Namibian, Gunther Berndt, an employee at Truck Namibia, realised over the weekend that he shares a name with 67-year-old Guenther Berndt, the suspect in the rape case which is alleged to have taken place last Monday. Following reports on the incident in the local media, Berndt says that his friends started phoning each other, curious to know whether it was he who appeared in court on Thursday.”If it was any other crime, I might not have minded,” Berndt told The Namibian yesterday, ”but this is quite extreme”.He says he only read the report in the Windhoek Observer on Saturday, and then discovered that both The Namibian and the Republikein had carried the report earlier in the week.The accused Berndt was arrested last Monday and appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.He was not granted bail, and his case is set to resume next Monday.Following reports on the incident in the local media, Berndt says that his friends started phoning each other, curious to know whether it was he who appeared in court on Thursday.”If it was any other crime, I might not have minded,” Berndt told The Namibian yesterday, ”but this is quite extreme”.He says he only read the report in the Windhoek Observer on Saturday, and then discovered that both The Namibian and the Republikein had carried the report earlier in the week.The accused Berndt was arrested last Monday and appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.He was not granted bail, and his case is set to resume next Monday.