Oscar Pistorius

The story that has headed the front pages of many newspapers in recent weeks has been that of Oscar Pistorius killing his girl friend Reeva Steenkamp in his house on the night of the 14th February.  The story is well-known but we still do not know the detailed truth of how this terrible tragedy occurred.
Pistorius has claimed that he thought that the noises in the bathroom and toilet were made by a burglar breaking into the house.  Many ask why did he not make absolutely sure who it was before he discharged four bullets?  We can ask this question in the comparative security of a country in Western Europe; it is not so easy in South Africa.  The annual murder rate in the UK is 1.2 per 100,000 or a total in 2012 of 722 people.  In South Africa the rate is 31.8 per 100,000 or 15,940 in 2012.  South Africa is not the worst place on Earth for murders but it is not far off.  The highest rate is in the Ivory Coast with a rate of 56.9 per 100,000.
Crime in South Africa is bad and well-known, rich, white people — as well as black — like Pistorius, are particularly at risk.  His disability makes things marginally worse.  In spite of walled estates and permanent guards, break-ins are not uncommon.  In The Sunday Times last week, Margie Orford, the London born author who attended university in Cape Town and has spent the last ten years living in South Africa, explained the pervasive fear of violence there.  She set out as an investigative journalist to "ascertain the facts about violence in South Africa."   Violence is endemic and she wondered if she — like Pistorius — should sleep with a gun under her pillow.  The police colonel with whom she discussed this asked a simple question, "If you woke up at night and heard a noise or saw someone moving down the passage, what would you do?"  "I would ask who was there," she replied.  The colonel expressed the opinion that if an intruder had got into the house he would already have shot her — so having a gun would make no difference.  "Better not to have a gun and shoot your husband by mistake."
This remark is uncanny in the Pistorius context.  It is exactly what he suggests happened.  In spite of his protected home and life style, like most South Africans he was paranoid about the risks of violent crime.  And the event that happened in Pistorius's home was and is not unique.  Margie Orford reports that only a few months ago a little girl in Johannesburg got out of bed during the night to get some water.  Her father thought she was an intruder and shot her dead.
It seems that in that blighted country, if you are to keep a gun in the house for your own protection then you have to react on the basis of shoot first and ask questions afterwards.  Perhaps the Pestorius version of what happened really is true.  So far the police have admitted that they found nothing at the scene to contradict his story.  Whatever the truth, it is a tragedy for all involved.  Obviously for Reeva Steenkamp but also for a man who, in spite of his disability, achieved so much and raised the status of para-athletes around the world.  He will have to live with this for the rest of his life.  I hope that one day he will succeed.
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