Oscar Pistorius Verdict
Downfall Of A Nobody: Why Oscar Pistorius Was Never Popular In South Africa
Charlie Fripp
After seven months of almost-constant media coverage, countless court appearances and the testimony of a plethora of experts, the trial of Oscar Pistorius has finally come to a close in South Africa. The former star Paralympian and Olympian Pistorius, found guilty on the charge of culpable homicide two weeks ago, was sentenced to five years in jail after he fatally shot his 31-year-old girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day 2013.
It's a stunning turnaround for the person who was seen as the star of the 2012 Olympics and an inspiration to athletes everywhere. But given how big a celebrity he was around the world (he made it to AskMen's Top 49 Most Influential Men in 2011), Pistorius wasn't always as popular as you might expect in his home country.
When, prior to the 2012 Olympics, he successfully lobbied athletics authorities to allow him to compete against abled athletes, the move wasn't met with a lot of support from South Africans. One high-profile South African sports scientist, Ross Tucker, called it a "complete farce." The controversy increased his public profile, but off the track he kept his life private and never reached A-list celebrity status in South Africa. Locally, many South Africans knew of him because he used state-of-the-art blades. WIthout them, it was commonly believed, he would have been just another moderately successful Paralympian.
A South African sports scientist says the decision to allow Oscar Pistorius to compete at the World #Athletics Championships is a 'farce'
— Farayi Mungazi (@BBCFarayi) August 15, 2011
Not all South Africans were happy about Pistorius being allowed in the Olympics.
Not only was Pistorius not the biggest name in South Africa, he wasn't even the country's biggest sports figure in 2012, a year in which he enjoyed unprecedented international attention. At the 2012 South African Sports Awards, he was beaten out by Chad LeClos a swimmer, in the Sports Star of the Year category, and by Vernon Philander, a cricketer, in the Sportsman of the Year group. That, combined with his guarded private life meant the sprinter just wasn't on the radar for most of his countrymen.
This actually hurt Pistorius's image after the shooting and arrest, as South Africans were never exposed to the private Pistorius — a man who lived quietly on a Pretoria estate and who has never been seen in public without his prosthetic limbs. It didn't matter that he had previously supported charities, was the ambassador for the Mineseeker Foundation and had been featured on the cover of New York Times Magazine. The only thing image that the public saw during the trial was that of Pistorius the killer, the man who shot dead his girlfriend and used South Africa's violent crime statistics as a reason for his actions.
The Trial And The Green Bucket
The more salacious the details, the more South Africans (and the rest of the world) lapped them up. The most famous (or probably infamous) incident was when the little green bucket made its appearance – a vessel for Pistorius to throw up in as photos of Steenkamp's body was displayed in court. Public opinion in South Africa at the time held it that Pistorius wasn't throwing up because of the disturbing images, but because he was slowly coming to grips what he had done — and faced the very real possibility of jail time.
Will it be a sign if the green bucket reappears on the benches on Tuesday ahead of sentencing? #oscartrial #pistorius MINIMUM 10 Years!
— Emily Wellman (@SugarActivism) October 17, 2014
Pistorius's detractors took the green bucket episode to be a sign of his guilt.
To pin down the real Oscar Pistorius is difficult even though viewers saw his stone-cold stares, his uncontrolled sobbing in the bench, and images of his house, what it looked like inside and even what brand of towels he used. Opinions wildly vary depending on who you ask. Those following how the events unfolded and followed the trial, will tell you that he is an arrogant man who should be guilty of murder. Ask the followers who have been affectionately called 'Pistorians,' they will maintain his innocence and vow to support him – as a small group did outside the court on sentencing day.
Stay strong Pistorians <3 pic.twitter.com/C37YDqvr3R
— Simona Widder (@SimonaWidder) October 20, 2014
Pistorius has kept a small group of loyal followers, called "Pistorians."
But the facts remain: he did shoot his girlfriend, he did kill her by his own admission, and he will be serving time in jail. How much time exactly is a different story altogether. Under South African law, a person has to serve at least a sixth of their sentence in order to come in contention for parole. In Pistorius's case, that means a minimum of just 10 months before he can be placed under correctional supervision – effectively house arrest.
The real Oscar Pistorius came off lightly.