Oscar should be out of jail

THERE are many of us who will be rather overjoyed that Oscar Pistorius has been denied his freedom today, following the outrage at what was perceived as being an overly-lenient sentence by Judge Thokozile Masipa.

But the law is the law, and must be observed, which is why the entire country knew that Pistorius – who killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013 – would be released today, 10 months after his sentence began.

This then begs the question, given that we all knew this, about what possessed Justice Minister Michael Masutha to make the decision that he did this week.

We sincerely hope it wasn’t political pressure, from whatever quarter or for whatever reason, much like the other case which Masutha unduly delayed, despite the provisions and the laws to the contrary. That was the matter of Clive DerbyLewis, who committed a reprehensible and remorseless crime but was correctly released earlier this year.

The law is there to be observed and obeyed. Anything else is arbitrary, unfair, unreasonable and in direct contravention of the foundation stone of our much lauded and hard won constitution.

Our protection of the constitution must always receive precedence, no matter how painful this may be to many South Africans.

Pistorius’s case is not like that of the Waterkloof Two, Frikkie du Preez and Christoff Becker, who were rearrested after being paroled for alleged misuse of alcohol.

The Pistorius decision this week feels like arbitrary intervention by administrative justice, which flies in the face of substantive justice.

As we learnt in the court of public opinion in this matter, those views of ours carry no weight whatsoever in a properly and duly constituted court of law. That should include the minister.

We dare not punish one person more for our failure in the cases of others.

There is an appeal under way by the State, and that must take its course. Until then, difficult as it may seem, Pistorius should be out of jail.