By ‘Sola Fagorusi
“I guess Oscar Pistorius would be disappointed to learn that he is not crazy. How justice risk being equated to sanity vs. insanity!” – Nengak Daniel
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is currently running the longest race of his life. Sadly, he is not doing so on the track, where he is called the blade runner. He is blazing this trail in the court of law in Pretoria, South Africa. Pistorius, 27 is facing predicated murder trial following his firing of four shots in the direction of Reeva Steenkamp, his 29-year-old girlfriend who was behind a locked bathroom door. Data Driven Insight Africa reports that there are over 100,000 articles and social media mentions of the paralympian. This figure includes about 60,000 online publications and 2,000 hardcopy print publication in addition to 6.2 million social network posts. Three of Oscar’s blind shots caused the injuries that led to the death of Reeva, a model. Oscar said he had thought he was shooting at an intruder in his Pretoria classy home. It is this claim and other past actions of Oscar that has been the bone of contention at the celebrity trial.
Like any decent being, I always cringe on hearing of a man battering a woman especially when the latter is his wife, fiancée or girlfriend. In my judgement, it is one of the most depraved things to do to someone whom one professes love to. There is not a single excuse for it. Any man incapable of bringing his raging emotion under control is unfit for such emotional interaction. February 14th 2013 is a day the family of Reeva Steenkamp will never forget. If the family ever employs the service of a biographer, that date would hold a whole chapter or even a major section of the book. It was the day Oscar Pistorius released three hot lead into the body of Reeva Steenkamp.
Those who crawled out of bed late on that day simply began to see display pictures on social networks saying – Please do not shoot, I am in the toilet. It naturally took more digging and snooping around for them to understand that it was in reference to the shooting incidence especially as Oscar has claimed he did not know his girlfriend was in the toilet. Reeva is no more to tell us exactly what happened that night. What would decide here would be evidence, oratory, research skills and possibly inferences from discerning social media user. The latter is assuming that the lady judge, Thokozile Masipa also considers this in her ruling. My lady, as she is called in court, currently sits atop one of the most complicated cases in South Africa. She only needs to say the word and Oscar would either be set free or would continue his life as an athlete on the track and field of a prison in South Africa, far from the ovation that an Olympic crowd would offer him.
Hours before Reeva’s death, she had taken to twitter saying – “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited#ValentinesDay.” If this tweet says anything about the state of her mind then it is the fact that she was also looking forward to that day. On the other hand, Oscar’s last tweet before the unfortunate event was on February 12th, 2013 and he had tweeted – “In a run up to the launch of my foundation in July I will give at least 10 kids mobility…” Of course, he is yet to fulfil this given that his own mobility is now limited. The message on his website’s homepage www.oscarpistorius.com is now devoted to news and development about the court case.
The earlier figures relayed about social media mentions does not include retweets. Knowing how sensational the trail was going to be, there were debates on whether to allow live broadcasts or not. Some concessions were given; first of its kind in South Africa. When Gert Saayman, the pathologist in the case however came up to give evidence on the autopsy, the judge banned all forms of broadcasts, specifically mentioning twitter, to dignify the deceased. Most journalists and court observers had from the shiny screen on their laps offered the world information on on-goings in the court room.
Oscar was amputated before his first birthday having been born without fibula but he became famous in 2008 following clearance in the Court of Arbitration for Sport to allow him run using metal legs against able-bodied men, a usage that earned him the nickname – blade runner. He is the first amputee to compete in the able-bodied Olympics going as far as the semi-finals in the 400 metres race and the relay finals. The paralympian gold medallist faces a court of law that does not adjudicate using the jury system. The Whatsapp messages between Oscar and Reeva has also been brought to court as evidence with the most prominent highlight being Reeva’s complain of how she was sometimes scared of him, given how he snaps at her.
On social media, there has been the pro and anti Pistorius team. @JusticeForReeva which goes by the bio – “Created in memory of the late Reeva Steenkamp, the ONLY victim in the Oscar Pistorius murder inquiry…” has over 12,000 followers and would obviously love to see Oscar pay for his ‘sin’. @OscarTrial simply tweets about happenings without offering opinions while @OscarHardTruth is run by the paralympian’s public relation’s team. They are not leaving anything to chance. #OscarPistorius and #OscarTrial have been the biggest meeting point for all tweets about the trial. There is also #Pistorian being used by die-hard fans of the sprinter.@OscarTrial199 has consistently given information to its 194,000 plus followers on happenings in the court room with a website to go with it – www.oscartrial.com This is handled by Channel 199 on DSTv which also gives live broadcast of the trial and sometimes offering skewed analysis. @barrybateman who is working on the book – Behind The Door: the Oscar and Reeva Story is an unbiased handle to follow, alongside @BBCAndrewH of the British Broadcasting Corporation. @EmmaSadleir and @Debora_Patta are also good sources on the #OscarTrial. Several cartoons have also come to fore on the case and the judge would need to peruse several evidences and insights before coming to a final decision.
State Prosecutor Gerrie Nel has been some sort of hero in all of this. Known as the “pit bull”, he has not spared Pistorius and reminds one of the thoroughness of Alan Shore and vigorous delivery of Danny Crane both of Hollywood’s fictitious Crane, Poole & Schmidt of the Boston Legal series. As I write this, a video re-enactment of the event that led to the death of Reeva is going viral. The court session which resumes, Monday 7th July would either choose to ignore or review it in its quest down the track seeing for justice. Afterall, the social media crowd may serve as jury, aiding My Lady to come to a final decision on this needless death of Ms. Reeva.
‘Sola Fagorusi
Sola Fagorusi is a youth development advocate, freelance writer, accomplished debater cum coach. The Obafemi Awolowo University graduate has about 10 years experience in social entrepreneurship which straddles leadership, good governance cum anti-corruption and adolescent reproductive health. The Leap Africa alumnus is also a trained peer educator, a DESPLAY alumnus and co-facilitator. For 2 years now, he has been a technical consultant and lead judge on the Intra-Faith Peace Youth TV Debate Project facilitated by Youngstars Foundation and the British High Commission. To read his full profile, click here.
