THE man accused of killing another motorist in a Bonaero Park road rage incident was granted R10 000 bail in Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court on Thursday afternoon.

Jacques van Tonder (44) will face a charge of murder for allegedly killing Louis Jansen van Rensburg of Boksburg.

A tall and slender man, Van Tonder, a pilot at SAA, wore a blue jersey and sat quietly in court with hardly any movements, listening and waiting to hear if his bail application would be successful.

His wife sat between two men, waiting to hear if her husband would be allowed to go home.

Considering he is a pilot by profession and travels extensively for work, the magistrate ordered that part of the bail conditions would be that he submitted a full month’s flight plan in advance. Failing to do so, he would  face detention.

The state did not oppose bail, saying Van Tonder was not a flight risk and had no previous convictions. Van Tonder is due to appear in court again on May 22.

Van Tonder is represented by Piet du Plessis, who is also defending Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir. Du Plessis went through Van Tonder’s affidavit which he submitted in support of his bail application.

Van Tonder stated he was driving his children, aged 14 and 10, to school on the morning of the shooting.  He noticed the driver of the Isuzu making hand gestures after he (Van Tonder) yielded left at the stop sign.

They both stopped and Jansen van Rensburg got out. He claimed the deceased addressed him in an aggressive manner, called him an idiot, pulled him by the hair and punched him in the face.

With his children hysterical, he saw Jansen van Rensburg tried to unlock his door. As his licensed firearm was close to the door he was afraid Jansen van Rensburg could get hold of it and turn it on him.

Van Tonder claimed Jansen van Rensburg tried to grab the gun and a shot went off, killing Jansen van Rensburg.

He said he called the police himself and had no intention of killing Jansen van Rensburg.