In a unanimous ruling on Thursday, the appeal court rejected the original verdict of culpable homicide (manslaughter) that a lower court judge had announced after a lengthy trial previous year.
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“I’m overwhelmed. The women of South Africa, the women of the whole world, have won today”, league spokeswoman Mapaseka Nkoane said outside the court.
Pistorius has been living with his uncle in Pretoria since being released on house arrest in October, performing community service once a fortnight under his conditions of parole. He could face 15 years in jail.
The Pistorius family said in a statement that it had taken note of the judgment.
He said that the athlete’s life was not in danger at the time of the shooting, as Pistorius did not know who was behind the door or if they posed a threat. His girlfriend had “nowhere to hide” in the tiny bathroom cubicle, it said.
Judge Masipa ruled that the state had failed to prove intent or “dolus eventualis”, a legal concept that centres on a person being held responsible for the foreseeable consequences of their actions. Steenkamp’s relatives, who were in court, embraced upon hearing the ruling. The expert said the trajectory of the bullets showed an intention to kill.
Now, Pistorius’s team may take the case to the next level for one final appeal in front of the highest court in South Africa-the Constitutional Court.
The appeals court ordered the lower court to hand a new sentence to Pistorius, who became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympic Games, in London in 2012. It has already struggled to pay his heavy legal bills, and the athlete has lost his lucrative endorsement deals and his income from the global track circuit.
He also witheringly described Pistorius’ often tearful trial testimony as “vacillating and untruthful”.
The International Paralympic Committee will be making no comment on the conviction as it is not a sporting issue.
His defence in his trial was that he thought she was an intruder, and last year he was given a five-year jail sentence for “culpable homicide”. State prosecutors made a decision to appeal his murder acquittal, believing that he meant to kill.
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Delivering the verdict on Thursday, Justice Eric Leach said: “As a result of the errors of law referred to and on a proper appraisal of the facts, he ought to have been convicted not of culpable homicide on that count, but of murder”. His five-month murder trial, broadcast on live television, had gripped the nation and fueled countless debates.
