THE CAST OF CHARACTERS

With hundreds of journalists from around the world descending on Pretoria ahead of what has been called the trial of the decade, Oscar madness has begun. TYMON SMITH takes a look at who is who among the prosecution, the defence, potential witnesses and th

THE ACCUSED

THE VICTIM

THE JUDGE

THE PROSECUTOR

THE POLICE

Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, born in 1986, had both his legs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old. He began running on prosthetics at the age of 16 and won gold at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. In 2012 he became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the London Olympics. With a slew of endorsements and trumpeted as an international sports hero, he fell from grace after admitting to shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day 2013. Pistorius claimed he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder. Born in Cape Town in 1983, Reeva Steenkamp grew up in Port Elizabeth and began modelling in her teens. She graduated with a law degree from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2005. Twice named one of the “100 Sexiest Women in the World” by FHM, Steenkamp was a contestant in the reality-TV show “Tropika Island of Treasure”, which aired after her death. She was introduced to Pistorius in 2012 and accompanied him to the South African Sports Awards. Steenkamp worked as a paralegal and was an advocate against sexual abuse.

Judge Thokozile Masipa, the second black woman to be appointed to the bench in South Africa, in 1998, began her career as a crime reporter for The Sowetan. She has presided over a number of high-profile cases, including former Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga’s R85-million compensation case against the parastatal; the case of serial rapist and burglar Shepherd Moyo; and that of policeman Freddy Mashiba, who shot and killed his former wife.

Advocate Gerrie Nel, a legal brain with more than 30 years’ experience, is known to South Africans for his prosecution of former police commissioner Jackie Selebi and is respected in the legal community for his dedication and determination and his skill at presenting evidence. He won two awards in 2012 for his work on the Selebi case, one from the Society of State Advocates and another from the International Association of Prosecutors.

THE DEFENCE ADVOCATE

Advocate Barry Roux SC, with more than 30 years’ experience, has handled several high-profile cases, including the tax-evasion trials of Dave King and Roger Kebble and the defamation case of Lothar Neethling. He earned the admiration of observers for his devastating cross-examination of investigating officer Hilton Botha during the Pistorius bail hearing last year, during which Botha eventually admitted that he may have compromised the scene.

Lieutenant-General Vineshkumar Moonoo is the most senior police detective in South Africa and divisional commander of the South African Police Service’s detective service. He was appointed to lead the investigation following Botha’s removal.

Captain Mike van Aardt, an experienced detective who worked on the Leigh Matthews and Sheldean Human murder cases, is described by colleagues as being meticulous and having an eye for detail.

Captain Francois Moller, a cellphone records expert who testified for the prosecution in the Chanelle Henning murder case and gave testimony during the trial of Modimolle Monster Johan Kotze, is part of the team that recently flew to Apple headquarters in California to decrypt Pistorius’s cellphone.

Hilton Botha, a member of the SAPS for 24 years and a detective for 16, was the detective at Boschkop Police Station who received the call about the shooting on the morning of February 14 2013. Botha had previously investigated an assault charge laid against Pistorius in 2009. After his testimony was picked apart by Roux at the bail hearing and it was revealed that he was facing charges for attempted murder relating to a 2011 incident in which he and two other officers shot at a minibus carrying seven passengers, Botha was removed from the Pistorius case and resigned from the SAPS.

THE PATHOLOGISTS

Professor Gert Saayman, a forensic pathologist at the University of Pretoria, has testified in a number of high-profile cases including Fred van der Vyver’s civil suit against the police and the murder of Judge Patrick Maqubela.

Dr Reggie Perumal, an independent pathologist who battled it out with Saayman earlier this year in the murder trial of Durban socialite Rajiv Narandas, testified for the defence at Pistorius’s bail hearing last year.

THE NEIGHBOURS

Eighteen residents and staff of Silverwoods Country Estate are on the state’s list of potential witnesses. They include Peter J Baba, the security guard who called Oscar shortly after the shooting, and neighbours Estelle van der Merwe, Michelle Burger, Charl Peter Johnson and Johan and Annette Stip.

THE EX-GIRLFRIENDS

Melissa Rom, a former Blue Bulls cheerleader, dated Pistorius in 2009. Her friend Cassidy Taylor-Memmory sued Pistorius for assault following an incident at a party at his house. The charges were eventually withdrawn.

Samantha Taylor, who was filmed on holiday in the Seychelles with Pistorius in 2012 for Top Billing, was reportedly the reason for the athlete’s confrontation with businessman Quinton van der Burgh at Kyalami later that year. In the wake of Pistorius’s arrest for Steenkamp’s shooting, Taylor’s mother, Trish, claimed in a Facebook post that the athlete had been reckless with guns and that she was glad that her daughter was “out of his clutches”.

POTENTIAL CHARACTER WITNESSES

Marc Batchelor, a former soccer star and TV presenter who was fired from his presenting job in 2007 after being accused of attacking a man in a fight in Parkhurst, Johannesburg, was involved in a war of words with Pistorius following the Kyalami confrontation with Van der Burgh.

Kevin Lerena, a cruiserweight boxer known as “the KO Kid”, was at Tasha’s restaurant in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, with Pistorius when a gun that Pistorius was examining went off.

Warren Lahoud, Steenkamp’s former boyfriend of five years, saw her for coffee two days before her death. Lahoud said that during their coffee meeting Pistorius phoned Steenkamp twice and when Lahoud asked her if everything was okay, she told him that nothing was wrong.

Cecil Myers was called by police to identify Steenkamp’s body. Since 2012, Steenkamp had been living with the Glenhazel, Johannesburg, family — her friend Gina Myers, Myers’s sister Kim, mother Desi and father Cecil, who Steenkamp apparently referred to as her “Jo’burg dad”. Justin Davaris and Samantha Greyvenstein Car dealer Justin Divaris and his model girlfriend Samantha Greyvenstein reportedly introduced Pistorius to Steenkamp. Divaris was also one of the first people Pistorius called after the shooting.

STEENKAMP’S PARENTS

June and Barry Steenkamp of Port Elizabeth have been the subject of much media attention in the wake of their daughter’s death. They were reported to have charged foreign media as much as R500 000 for interviews, money they used to open a pub. June is expected to attend the trial with other family members.

PISTORIUS’S FAMILY

Heinrich Carl Pistorius, Oscar’s elder brother, was acquitted in May last year on charges of culpable homicide and negligent driving in the death of Maria Barnard in a 2008 road accident.

Aimee Joy Pistorius is Oscar’s younger sister.

Arnold Pistorius, Oscar’s uncle, business partner and godfather, has acted as the family spokesman since the athlete’s arrest last year.