Outjo man wins stock theft appeal
Prince Pienaar, a Namibian man convicted of stock theft in 2022, has successfully appealed his conviction in the Windhoek High Court. The appeal was granted after Pienaar argued that the lower court relied on unreliable accomplice testimony and lacked sufficient evidence regarding the ownership of the stolen livestock.
Why it matters
The case highlights issues regarding judicial reliance on uncorroborated accomplice testimony and the importance of evidentiary standards in criminal property theft cases.
Prince Pienaar, who was convicted and subsequently sentenced in the Outjo Magistrate’s Court in 2022 on a count of stock theft, has been successful in appealing his conviction in the Windhoek High Court.
Pienaar, who was expected to begin serving his three-year sentence last week after completing a separate five-year sentence, was released after his appeal was upheld on 16 October 2026.
Appeal court judges Eileen Rakow and Kandiwapa Nembia made the ruling last Friday.
Pienaar and a co-accused, Petrus Simon Ganeb, were sentenced to three years direct imprisonment on a charge of stock theft on 13 April 2022.
The allegations were that on 7 July 2020, the two, at a farm in Outjo, stole one cattle valued at N$10 000.
Prior to his appeal against the conviction, his co-accused, Ganeb, succeeded in appealing against both his conviction and sentence.
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