Cape Town - The ANC Women’s League on Thursday welcomed the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to appeal the six-year jail sentence handed down to disabled former track star Oscar Pistorius and said he should be sentenced to at least 15 years for murdering Reeva Steenkamp.
“The Women’s League is dissatisfied with the six-year sentence delivered by Judge Masipa which is lenient for a murder case and sets a wrong precedent,” the league said.
“As the ANCWL we believe that an appeal is at the interests of the justice system and the public at large. It would further restore confidence in the justice system to all the women who continue to be victims of gender based violence.”
The group stressed that statistics indicate that “every eight hours a woman is killed by a partner in our country”. It said to stem the wave of gender-based violence, a clear message was needed from South Africa’s justice system.
“As the Women’s League we believe that Pistorius should be granted a sentence suitable for murder which should be anything between 15 to 20 years.”
On July 6, Judge Thokozile Masipa handed Pistorius a sentence of just one year more for murder than she originally did for culpable homicide. The Supreme Court of Appeal had converted the conviction to murder after the NPA appealed her original judgment.
The NPA said on Thursday it had decided to appeal the sentence as well.
African News Agency