Justice Minister Michael Masutha cast doubt Tuesday on the expected imminent release from prison of Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius, who was convicted of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
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Lawyers for the double-amputee runner have until September 17 to file their response ahead of a hearing in November.
Pistorius does not dispute that he shot model and law graduate Steenkamp four times through a locked toilet door in his Pretoria home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Upon his release, just two days after what would have been Steenkamp’s 32nd birthday (19Aug15), Pistorius will serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest with an electronic tag.
There has been a mix of surprise and anger in South Africa that Pistorius is to be set free so soon, particularly as his release comes during the country’s “Women’s Month” campaign that seeks to highlight with the issue of violence against women. They said Masipa made an error in interpreting the law when she cleared Pistorius of murder and found him guilty instead of an unintentional but still unlawful killing.
Yesterday, prosecutors pushing for a murder conviction against the former athlete filed papers to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal.
It is potential to be convicted of homicide in South Africa if it is proven that an individual foresaw the potential of somebody’s dying due to their actions and went forward anyway.
Pistorius testified that he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for a risky intruder hiding in his bathroom.
If his conviction is upgraded from manslaughter to murder, Pistorius would be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.
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In March a Johannesburg court blocked his legal team’s attempts to stop the prosecutors’ appeal.
