A young Gqeberha woman vividly recalls the moment on May 11 2023 when her father told her and her siblings that he had been having an affair with Vanessa van Rensburg.
Their mother then filed for divorce shortly thereafter.
Two years later, life as they knew it was once again disrupted with Rob Evans’ arrest for the murder of his girlfriend.
On Monday, during the second day of his formal bail bid in the Humansdorp Regional Court, Evans wept as he read his 22-year-old daughter’s statement into the record.
In the statement, Justine recalled the family’s turmoil.
Pleading with the court to release her father from custody, Justine said she and her two younger sisters were financially reliant on him.
Evans has been in custody since his arrest at his Newton Park workplace on May 9.
He is accused of murdering Van Rensburg over the Easter weekend. He also faces charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and defeating the ends of justice.
The mother of two’s body was found during the early hours of April 20 on the floor of Evans’ Kabeljou Street holiday home in Oyster Bay.
According to the state, she was beaten with an object such as a bottle, and strangled.
Van Rensburg sustained blunt-force injuries to her neck and chest.
Her lung was also punctured.
Wearing black #JusticeforVanessa shirts, her family and friends packed the courtroom.
Her father, Johan, was visibly emotional.
Justine said further in her affidavit that when she found out about the affair, “it hurt deeply”.
Reading his daughter’s words, Evans burst out crying.
“What I want the court to understand is that while the truth was painful, there was no violence involved.
“Yes, my parents had arguments, especially in those last months before the separation.
“But they were like many couples going through something hard.”
She said the morning of her father’s arrest began like any other.
She had been helping offload stock when someone said the police had just been there to arrest him.
“My legs went weak. I couldn’t breathe.”
She painted a picture of a man who was in mourning, “but not murderous”.
“He was grieving someone he loved,” she wrote.
“And he was being accused of ending her life.”
She said her younger sister found out about their father’s arrest through the media.
“No daughter should ever have to learn something so heavy, so terrifying, through a screen.
“We were robbed of the chance to soften the blow.”
She also described Evans as a “present” father.
Evans also submitted a supplementary affidavit in support of his bail application, in which he said he did not own or possess a firearm.
He said further that Van Rensburg’s father had allegedly sent him threatening messages.
He said prior to his arrest, Johan had sent him a voice note telling him to “run”.
According to Evans, Johan told him: “I don’t care how much money you’ve got, run.”
Evans said he did not disclose the messages in his founding affidavit as he did not interpret them as “life-threatening”.
“I view them as a manifestation of grief and emotional pain from a bereaved father,” he said.
“I did not, and do not, wish to lay criminal charges against him.”
In addition to being the co-owner of Algoa Plastics, Evans is also the majority shareholder and managing partner in BoxPak, which he co-owns with his brother.
He said the business operated from the same premises as Algoa Plastics, where he was arrested.
“While this business is modest in size, it is operationally dependent on me.
“My absence has already created significant challenges in ensuring supplier payments, managing orders, and addressing stock shortages and cash management issues.”
At Algoa Plastics, Evans said he was responsible for monthly supply chain planning between Gqeberha and Cape Town, stock forecasting and dispatch co-ordination, managing depot cash flow and regional pricing structures and handling national client relationships.
He said Algoa Plastics was also already suffering.
In an additional affidavit, defence attorney Danie Gouws said on April 21, he had consulted with Evans at his firm’s offices.
“Based on the facts available at the time, including the seizure of the applicant’s cellphone by the SAPS, the applicant’s proximity to the deceased at the time of her death, and the nature of subsequent developments, I advised him — based on my legal experience — that he was in all probability being regarded as a suspect in a murder investigation,” Gouws said.
“I further advised him that, based on established SAPS practice and the nature of the matter under investigation, he could be arrested at any time, with no prior warning.”
Evans maintained that he was a law-abiding citizen, willing to comply with stringent bail conditions and was not a flight risk.
Magistrate Deidre Dickson ruled that Evans would spent the night at the Humansdorp police station so he could be at court early on Tuesday for the continuation of the bail proceedings.
Speaking on behalf of the Van Rensburg family, spokesperson Dorette de Swardt said: “The past few weeks have been the most painful of our lives.
“As we grieve the unimaginable loss of Vanessa, we are also trying to navigate the long and difficult path towards justice.
“We hope the outcome of the bail proceedings will reflect the seriousness of the charges and acknowledge the deep suffering Vanessa endured in her final moments.
“We know we can never bring her back, but we continue to place our trust in the justice system to honour her life and seek accountability for her senseless death.”
The Herald
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