Really Oscar?????????? This is old news but interesting. Oscar only has grade 10 Observers were astounded by testimony that Oscar Pistorius only has a grade 10 school certificate. Stephané Bothma | 14 October 2014 16:00 Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius listens to the verdict in his trial at the High Court in Pretoria on Friday, 12 September 2014. Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide for the Valentines Day shooting last year of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Paralympic icon Oscar Pistorius only has a grade 10 school certificate and all he can do is run, a probation officer told the North Gauteng High Court. Annette Vergeer, who consulted with Pistorius, his legal team and family to compile a psychosocial pre-sentence report at the request of the athlete’s defence team, said that although future employment prospects were not discussed between her and Pistorius, his options were limited, as he only had a grade 10 qualification. Vergeer’s testimony about the Paralympian’s qualification, which was not challenged by any party involved in the sentencing phase of the high-profile trial, took some spectators by surprise, as it had been stated by Pistorius, in at least one interview in 2008, that he was at the time a registered BCom Business Management student at the University of Pretoria. Pistorius was convicted on a charge of culpable homicide last month for shooting and killing his girlfriend, model and reality television personality, Reeva Steenkamp in February 2013. The probation officer was the second to testify that Pistorius should not be sent to prison, but should rather be given a sentence of three years’ correctional supervision with community service for his crime. Gerrie Nel, representing the state, challenged Vergeer about her testimony regarding conditions in South African prisons and said that officials of the Correctional Services Department were upset about her evidence and that witnesses would be called to contradict her statements about overcrowding, sodomy, rape, gang activities and that prisons could not facilitate disabled people like Pistorius. Vergeer admitted that the last time she had worked in a prison had been ten years ago at the Johannesburg Prison and that since then, she had visited the Krugersdorp Prison once some two years ago. “One cannot ignore his personal circumstances when it comes to imprisonment,” she testified and said it was her opinion that a community-based sentence would be more appropriate. Even if it was shown that her opinion about prisons was inaccurate, Vergeer told the court, she would still not recommend a custodial sentence for the athlete. “He is vulnerable. If they take his legs away from him in prison he cannot stand up for himself,” she said, referring to the violence in prisons. The sentencing proceedings will enter their third day on Wednesday, when it is expected that the cross-examination of Vergeer will continue.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:43:38 +0000
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