Oscar witness slams cell number disclosure

Oscar Pistorius speaks to members of his legal team during the second day of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday. Picture: Antoine de Ras/Pool

Oscar Pistorius speaks to members of his legal team during the second day of his trial at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday. Picture: Antoine de Ras/Pool

Published Mar 5, 2014

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Pretoria - IT designer Charl Johnson feels his privacy was compromised after his cellphone number was read out in the High Court in Pretoria during the murder trial of Oscar Pistorius.

“It keeps on ringing so I keep it off... I feel my privacy has been compromised severely,” he told the court on Wednesday.

Johnson's cellphone number was read out in court on Tuesday.

He said a number of voice mail messages were left on his phone after it was read out, including a message asking him why he was lying about what happened on the night that Pistorius killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The third day of the trial got underway around 9.30am.

Judge Thokozile Masipa asked Johnson to speak a bit louder after he took the stand.

On day two of the trial, Johnson testified that he and his wife Michelle Burger were woken up by piercing cries, followed by gunshots in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year.

Johnson's testimony corroborated in detail what Burger had told the court on Monday.

On Wenesday Pistorius, wearing a black suit and carrying a laptop bag, arrived at the court around 9.10am surrounded by police and security. His family entered a short while later.

Earlier witnesses expected to testify in the murder trial were seen walking into the court ahead of the proceedings.

They included Samantha Taylor, who previously dated Pistorius.

She entered the court flanked by companions. She was dressed in a black dress. She spoke to the prosecution briefly and was then led out of court through a side door.

Pistorius is on trial for shooting dead his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, through a locked bathroom door. He said he had mistaken her for an intruder.

Shortly after the shooting, Taylor came forward, saying Pistorius had previously fired a gun through the open sunroof of her car.

Also in court was boxer Kevin Lerena, a friend of Pistorius, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and red tie.

He was with Pistorius at a Melrose Arch restaurant when Pistorius accidentally fired a gun, missing Lerena's foot.

The incident occurred days before Steenkamp's death.

Lerena reportedly said the restaurant shooting was an accident.

Also attending Wednesday's proceedings was Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane.

Dressed in black, she walked to a relative of Steenkamp, gave her a hug and sat next to her in the bench reserved for the Steenkamp and Pistorius families.

Several members of the ANC Women's League accompanied Mokonyane to court.

Pinned on their official green and black uniforms was a picture of Reeva Steenkamp. - Sapa

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