Pretoria - Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius spent much of his weekend praying, consulting and crying.
“He was only crying,” said a pastor from the Northern Cape, AJ Wilson, shortly after visiting the world-famous athlete at the Brooklyn police station cells in Pretoria on Sunday.
Wilson stepped out of the cells shortly after 8am and commented about the unforgiving nature of human beings, saying: “We can do 99 percent of things right in our lives and make one mistake everyone remembers. We prayed and asked God to forgive.”
Wilson said he was sitting in the bath on Sunday morning when the Holy Spirit told him to take the chance and visit Pistorius. “I am nothing, I am no one. I am just a lowly person. I just do what the Lord tells me to do and He told me to come here,” he said.
Wilson was allowed into Pistorius’s cell. “My daughter, Oscar and I held hands and we thanked God.”
Another pastor from the Community Character Courage Church (3C) visited Pistorius early on Sunday afternoon, but said the situation was “too sensitive” to comment.
The Paralympian’s agent Peet van Zyl said Pistorius received overwhelming support from within South Africa and all over the world.
After visiting Pistorius in his cell, Van Zyl said that support for him was immense and a lot of fans had sent their good wishes.
The support was “really on a global scale – South African fans, international fans from literally all over the world”, he said.
Van Zyl said he visited Pistorius primarily to discuss his running career and would not respond to questions about the mental and emotional state of the 26-year-old.
Friends, family, his lawyer and some clergymen visited Pistorius throughout the weekend.
Local and international media camped outside the Brooklyn police station the entire weekend, hoping for an interview with the family and Pistorius’s lawyer.
Of those friends who visited Pistorius, none spoke to the media.
Pistorius’s sister, Aimeé, rushed into the police station just before 4pm with a Woolworths bag, presumably for her brother. She ignored the media and refused to comment on his emotional state.
Van Zyl said his visit to Pistorius was of a professional nature. “I came to discuss his career and his plans for this year. I also came as a friend to provide him with moral support. I hope to visit him again soon,” he said.
Van Zyl declined to comment on whether any of Pistorius’s sponsors had pulled out although it is now known that M-Net has dropped its “Oscar month” advertisements.
Kenny Oldwadge, Pistorius’s lawyer arrived at the police station just before 5pm.
He declined to address the media or shed light on details that had emerged in some of the Sunday newspapers.
Pistorius will be held at the police station until on Tuesday when he will appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court where his bail application will be heard.
Pistorius is being held for the alleged murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. She was shot in his Pretoria home in the early hours of Valentine’s Day.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said on Friday in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court that the State was willing to argue a Schedule 6 offence, which requires exceptional circumstances before bail is granted. The State would also argue a case of premeditated murder against Pistorius.
On Saturday evening, the public had the chance to get to know Steenkamp after her death.
Tropika Island of Treasure 5, the reality television show in which Steenkamp was a contestant, aired on SABC1 that evening.
The opening interview was one with Steenkamp after she was voted off the show. She ends her interview with “I love you all so much.”
The show is set in Jamaica where celebrity contestants take part in challenges to win the ultimate prize of R1 million.
Steenkamp introduced herself and giggled when she told the audience: “I am not going anywhere” as she had her heart set on winning the prize.
A later scene showed Steenkamp entering her bedroom in the contestants’ house.
She saw a heart on her pillow and said: “Aw, that is so romantic”.
Producer Samantha Moon said the show was aired as a tribute to Steenkamp, but it has drawn criticism from activists.
“The show was dedicated to Reeva’s memory,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ANC Women’s League has demanded that Pistorius not be granted bail when he appears in court on Tuesday.
Spokeswoman for the league Troy Martens said the magistrate should take into consideration claims in the media that there was a strong case of premeditated murder against him.
“It is with this in mind that the ANCWL urges the magistrate to heed the call of the prosecutors in this case and deny bail,” said Martens.
Pretoria News