Gqeberha man accused of killing girlfriend with whiskey bottle has bail appeal struck
Vanessa van Rensburg murder accused’s bail appeal thrown out of court
BEHIND BARS: After being in custody for 132 days, Rob Evans learnt he will have to sit even longer, as his appeal against his bail dismissal was struck from the Gqeberha High Court roll on Thursday
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Murder accused Rob Evans’ bail appeal was struck from the roll of the Gqeberha High Court on Thursday.
Evans is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Vanessa van Rensburg, 36, whose body was discovered on the lounge floor of his Oyster Bay holiday home on April 20 2025.
The father of three is accused of bludgeoning his wife to death with a whisky bottle.
Evans' bail appeal was struck from the roll because the record was incomplete.
Less than a month after the murder, Evans, the co-owner of Algoa Plastics, was arrested at his Newton Park business on May 9.
He was denied bail on July 9.
He faces four charges, including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and defeating the ends of justice.
Evans' bail appeal was set for September 4 and 5 and later set to be heard on Monday, September 15.
On Monday, the case was never called and postponed in chambers to Thursday.
In court papers seen by IOL, Evans argued that magistrate Deidre Dickson wrongly refused him bail.
The state has classified Van Rensburg's murder as “planned or premeditated", which places it under Schedule 6 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Evans’ lawyers, Paul Roelofse and Danie Gouws, argued in the papers that Dickson made “serious errors” by treating the case as Schedule 6 without evidence of premeditation.
Roelofse said the state merely added the words “planned or premeditated” to the charge sheet but provided no facts, testimony, or expert reports to back up the classification.
He said that investigating officer Xolile Kato also presented no evidence of planning, and no version suggesting premeditation was ever put to Evans in cross-examination.
According to Roelofse, Dickson should have ruled first on whether the matter fell under Schedule 5 or 6 before hearing bail arguments.
Instead, he said, Evans was unfairly forced to prove “exceptional circumstances” under Schedule 6.
Had the case been treated as Schedule 5 — murder without premeditation — Evans had already shown that his release would be in the interests of justice, he argued.
On Monday, a dispute erupted over whether Dickson received Evans’ notice of appeal.
In an affidavit, Dickson said she was only formally made aware of the appeal on September 9 and therefore could not provide reasons as she lacked sufficient time.
But in an affidavit filed on Thursday, Roelofse said he had personally delivered the notice of appeal to Humansdorp Regional Court clerk Andiswa Madolwana at the end of July.
In her own affidavit, Madolwana confirmed handing the notice to Dickson’s clerk — but the clerk, in a separate affidavit, denied receiving it.
The matter will return to the Humansdorp Regional Court on Monday, September 22, for further investigation.
IOL News