Lifman murder accused challenge refusal of bail

Update

GEORGE NEWS - The two men accused of murdering controversial Cape businessman Mark Lifman have this week begun another appeal against the refusal of their latest bail application this week.

Johannes “Jakes” Jacobs and Gert “Johnny” Bezuidenhout appeared in the Thembalethu Regional Court to challenge Magistrate Mashau Ramalebane’s decision to refuse them bail on 12 February.

Jacobs and Bezuidenhout are accused of the murder of Lifman, who was shot dead in the parking area of the Garden Route Mall on Sunday, 3 November 2024. They face a charge of murder with premeditation.

The two men were arrested later that same day and have remained in custody ever since.

Their first bail application was refused by Magistrate André Aucamp on 17 January 2025. Aucamp found that there were no substantial or exceptional circumstances justifying their release on bail.

The accused subsequently approached the Western Cape High Court in an attempt to overturn the refusal of bail. That application was dismissed by Acting Judge Nomfundo Sipuinzi on 12 May 2025.

They then sought leave to appeal in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, but that application was also dismissed on 20 August 2025.

The men later launched a second bail application, based on what their legal teams argued were new facts.

The renewed application was heard in the Thembalethu Regional Court during January and February 2026. The defence argued, among other things, that developments in the case and the conditions under which the accused were being held should be considered in determining whether they should now be released.

The State opposed the application, arguing that the defence was essentially presenting existing information in a different form and attempting to portray it as new evidence.

On 12 February, Magistrate Ramalebane again refused bail.

The State had argued during the second bail application that the accused were regarded as high-profile detainees and that their segregation and security arrangements were intended to protect them rather than punish them. The prosecution also rejected arguments that prison conditions, difficulties with legal consultations or delays in the investigation constituted exceptional circumstances warranting their release.

The defence has now taken issue with Ramalebane’s February ruling.

The appeal is being led by senior counsel Adv. Michael Hellens SC, representing Jacobs, and Adv. Rubin Liddell SC, representing Bezuidenhout.

During proceedings this week, Hellens argued that Ramalebane’s decision was not justified because the magistrate had failed to properly consider all the new facts placed before the court.

According to Hellens, the magistrate had concluded that there were no genuinely new facts before the court and that the information presented by the defence in February had merely been rearranged or repackaged to appear as new evidence.

The defence is therefore asking the court to reconsider the refusal of bail and to find that the magistrate did not properly exercise his discretion when dismissing their application.

The appeal proceedings are continuing this week.

The murder case itself has meanwhile moved closer to trial. In March 2026, the matter was transferred from the George/Thembalethu courts to the Mossel Bay Regional Court. Jacobs and Bezuidenhout appeared there on 27 March, when a trial date was set for 11 to 15 January 2027. They were ordered to remain in custody pending the trial.

The outcome of the current bail appeal will determine whether the two accused remain behind bars while they await the January 2027 murder trial.

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