Thirteen Years And Five Months
The Supreme Court of Appeals found Oscar Pistorius guilty of murder and he was sentenced to thirteen years and five months in prison. The judge said that it should have been fifteen years but the time he’d already served was taken into account. This already is a farce for he had only served 10 months in prison, the rest of the time he spent in his millionaire uncle’s house in luxury after being put under house arrest.
The judge said he did not show enough genuine remorse.
This is after Pistorius, a former paralympian, was earlier acquitted on a charge of murder and found guilty on a lesser charge of culpable homicide. The state was not happy with the six year sentence handed out to Pistorius after he killed his girlfriend and so they went to the Appeal Court.
The girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, planned to leave him and he subsequently killed her by firing four shots through the bathroom door, claiming that he thought that she was a burglar.
One can only have sympathy with Reeva’s parents. Although some token of justice was attained, it cannot bring her back.
And the other big news from Southern Africa is a new President for Zimbabwe. Methinks our neighbors to the north are rejoicing too quickly for Emmerson Mnangagwa is certainly no angel and with his strong ties to the military, he was probably the mastermind behind the plot that ousted Robert Mugabe. I cannot believe for one moment that ZANU-PF will be keen to relinquish power in a fair election. They only replaced one terror with another.
I think that we can look forward to another rigged election.
Comments (23)
That would have been an absolutely terrifying way to die, and Oscar should go the same way.
Yes, I am for the death penalty. I believe that if somebody willfully killed somebody else he had forfeited the right to go on living.
We all know what crocodiles are known for.
by the way, the crocodile is responsible for the second-most human killings in South Africa after hippopotamus. That is based on the known statistics. The real stats, which may be double that, cannot be ascertained because most of the illegal immigrants who try to avoid the border posts, try to swim the river at night and are killed by one of the two.
And yes, it is a shame about Reeva's parents esp in light of the fact that he'll probably won't sit for half the sentence. Money talks.
What worries me is why he was not found guilty of murder during the first trial. there was enough evidence. And I can almost guarantee you that he won't spend a lot of time behind bars.
Maybe Pat8 had the right idea but that would not be justice and revenge is not sweet.
I'm not pro-death penalty, but he should be in there long enough to make sure he pays for what he did.
Money shouldn't count in prison.
As for Zim, that new dude seemed to have been a bad enough dude in his day. Maybe he has mellowed and is willling to work with, and not kill, the opposition , for the betterment of the country.
Yes, money should not count and I don't want to say what I think happened during the first trial; I may be held in contempt of the court.
With regards to the new president, I hope you're right. The Zimbabweans are good workers and they need a good leader. those here in this country, legally or otherwise, have no problems getting jobs. They are preferred above our own people.
On the brighter side....
South Africans are beaming with pride after Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters was crowned Miss Universe 2017 at during a glitzy ceremony in Las Vegas.
He had been desperate. Even tried the constitutional court. It's not there for criminal cases.
I hope they lose his cell's key.
Yes Luki, well done to her. I did not think somebody with a name as long as Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters could win.
Thank you for a well informed overview of the situation.
We can just hope that things will go better now, The events across our northern border spill over to us all too often. As it is, we have to repatriate busloads of illegal immigrants each month.
I suppose people react different in these situations. My late (younger) brother lost both his legs so high up that he could not use artificial limbs. He was chained to a wheelchair for life. He went morbid and it took him five years to drink himself into an early grave.
Pistorius deserves to be where he is.
What infuriated me was his reluctance to admit his guilt, fabricating a story, to lessen his time behind bars. We all know the intent was there to kill Reeva, caught up in his own seemingly possessive rage, when it appears she wished to end the relationship.
I empathize with you re your brother. My daughter was immobilized 4 1/2 years ago with spinal nerve damage as a result of medical misadventure during a routine key-hole op. She was confined to a wheelchair at 15. Her future and prognosis remains unclear, but she is strong, which I am grateful for.
She's alive. Yes, one feel sad about the loss of mobility but while there is life, there is hope.
We don't know what the future holds for us or her but we can hope. Hope often comes true.
You talk about that, my other brother was shot in the stomach. this happened at midnight. He was taken to hospital and stabilized. The next morning at about 8 AM a doctor pushed a tube through his heart and he died a short while later. A internal inquiry found that it was an unfortunate accident and the doctor was not to be blamed. They cover up for one another and there is nothing you can do. Now how do you sue a stonewall?.
But my father had to bury another son and I have run out of brothers. At least my sister still has a brother.
Yep....have noticed the medical, alike the legal profession, stick together like glue. I'd have had more of a chance of hurting them in the pocket in America, than I would here however.
The hospital concerned did admit liability, to an extent, so she was able to claim for ACC( government compensation corporation, responsible for payouts for her ongoing medical care)....and to be honest, we were, and still are more concerned about her hands on care than the required effort needed for a lengthy and costly legal battle for a lump sum compensation, which would detract directly from my daughter.....not what we want or need right now. Maybe later.
I must stop looking back here....
Time for zzzzzzzzzzz!
I agree, he got off to lightly.
Oh incidentally, the African Savannah is not jungle, it is grasslands with scattered trees. I think it is comparable with the American prairie.
This is what the African Savannah looks like. But good hunting grounds, just the same.
No, the latest trend is corrugated iron tower blocks.