Zelda Venter and
Shain Germaner
BY LATE Monday afternoon, various media houses were already setting up shop outside the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, in anticipation of the State’s appeal against Oscar Pistorius’s conviction of culpable homicide.
Numerous broadcast vans were parked in Elizabeth Street on the doorstep of the imposing courthouse.
It is expected that even more media will be flocking to the building today as five judges will have to decide on the fate of the disgraced Paralympian.
The world’s attention will be focused on courtroom A where advocate Gerrie Nel will argue that Judge Thokozile Masipa, of the high court in Pretoria, erred when she convicted Pistorius of culpable homicide last year.
According to Nel, this is a clear-cut case of murder on the doctrine of dolus eventualis.
Nel will argue that Pistorius knew full well that there was someone behind the toilet door at his Pretoria east home when he fired four shots into the small cubicle, killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
The advocate will insist that Pistorius must have foreseen the risk of death in firing those shots, meaning he indirectly intended to kill whoever was behind that door.
The first hurdle, however, for the State to overcome is to convince the appeal court that this is indeed a question of error in law, rather than an error in fact.
Pistorius’s defence team, led by advocate Barry Roux, SC, will argue that the State is unable to show that the trial court incorrectly applied the legal principles to the primary and secondary facts, and rather seeks to attack the factual findings, which is not permissible.
Roux will argue that at the time Pistorius fired the shots, he honestly believed that Steenkamp was in the bedroom.
Pistorius’s fate now lies in the hands of Judge President Lex Mpati, Nonkosi Mhlanthla, Eric Leash, Steven Majiedt and Elizabeth Baartman.
By late Monday afternoon, neither Nel nor Roux had been spotted at the court. However, investigating officer Mike van Aardt and crime scene photographer Barend van Staden made brief appearances at the court.
It is expected that Steen-kamp’s mother, June, will be in attendance during proceedings this morning.
None of the Pistorius family is expected but spokesperson for the family, Anneliese Burgess, will be present.
ANC Women’s League Gauteng spokesperson Jacqui Mofokeng earlier said she would attend the appeal.
During Pistorius’s lengthy criminal trial in Pretoria last year, Mofokeng supported the Steenkamp family throughout proceedings.
The arguments in the appeal are due to last just one day and judgment will be reserved. However, it is expected that the outcome of the appeal will be known within the next few weeks.