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The trial of Oscar Pistorius

South Africa and a global audience will be watching in awe and horror as Paralympian Oscar Pistorius goes on trial for murder. The prosecution and defence will be engulfed in titanic legal battles.

According to legal scholars, South African law gives far more leeway to the use of force in self-defence than many other countries. Anyone can respond with force if their life is in danger. Our courts tend to accept a broad definition of self-defence.

A person claiming self-defence must prove at trial that the self-defence was justified. Under our law, a person may use reasonable force when it appears reasonably necessary to prevent an impending injury. A person using force in self-defence should use only so much force as is required to repel an attack. The successful invocation of such a defence reduces a murder charge to culpable homicide.

Oscar Pistorius’ fate will hinge on a number of crucial factors and the court will hear opposing scientific testimony and forensic techniques. But the cardinal factor will be the evidence of five witnesses who heard arguments and then silence as the fatal shots rang out.

Should the presiding judge believe their testimony and reject the self-defence argument, it would be the end of Pistorius’ version of what had happened on Valentine’s Day last year. It will also be the end of an illustrious era in the history of global sport. South Africans will be glued to their television sets on March 3 when the trial of the century begins.

Farouk Araie, by email