For those for whom the trial of Oscar Pistorius was no more than the essential television event of the year, the ending did not disappoint, at least in cinematic terms. Framed by the barred window of the prison van, darkened by the glare of the midday sun, the outline of the athlete, dark suit, dark tie, head erect, slowly driven away, finally a prisoner of the state.
It is only a short drive to the Kgosi Mampuru II prison, where Pistorius will have exchanged his dark suit for an orange uniform, and been taken to the hospital section where he is expected to be detained.
It would have required a quite extraordinary turn of events, at some point over the last 20 months, for it not to end this way. The arguments, laid out at exorbitant cost in front of a watching world, have only really been over the precise nature of the crime – premeditated murder, or something less – and the length of time it should merit.
In the end, Judge Thokozile Masipa handed down a sentence of five years as punishment for the culpable homicide conviction she gave last month. The provisions of South African law make clear Pistorius will be eligible to have his sentence commuted down to corrective supervision, or house arrest, after a sixth of that time, 10 months. His defence counsel has indicated it expects that to happen at the earliest opportunity, but it is not automatic.
In the end, the sentence fell almost exactly between the three years’ house arrest his defence had argued for, and the minimum 10 years custodial that the prosecution had requested. Oscar Pistorius’s family has indicated he will not appeal.
State Prosecutor Gerrie Nel said he considered it “the end of the case”, but South African prosecuting authorities may yet appeal the verdict. Not the sentence, the verdict.
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