ZOMBIE STOPPER VIDEO! This is the Oscar Pistorius footage Barry Roux didn't want you to see today

This is the Oscar Pistorius "Zombie Stopper" video Barry Roux doesn't want you to see in the Oscar trial today. As I write, Justice Masipa is still deciding on whether this footage can be shown in court.

It aired on Sky News on February 28. Here he can be seen shooting melons with Springbok rugby star Francois Hougaard, the Blue Bulls back who was also a close friend of the deceased Reeva Steenkamp.

The words: "It's a lot softer than a brain but it's like a zombie stopper" can be heard. Not suprisingly, defence advocate Roux wants to stop prosecutor Gerrie Nel showing this footage after a fierce start to his cross-examination.

Roux argues this video is an "ambush" on the part of the state and never formed part of their case but Nel says Oscar, having denied all knowledge of "zombie stoppers" asked to see the video.

Ultimately, Roux agreed to the court viewing this video as long as it didn't set a precedent. Nel immediately tore in to Pistorius, comparing Reeva's shattered skull with the water melon's being exploded. Oscar immediately broke down in tears as he was told to look at a photograph of Reeva's head wound... and he was told to take "take responsibility". Within minutes, Justice Masipa had called an adjournment.

The Zombie Killer ploy, an ambush without question, may have turned this trial.

Oscar victorious: he's free, but under THESE conditions

Bladegunner: Oscar and sister Aimee leave court

 

OSCAR PISTORIUS, in case you hadn't heard, was granted bail on a charge of murder before the full glare of the world's media this afternoon. Clearly, that's something of a victory for the first amputee to compete in the able-bodied Olympics.

The man who put four bullets through his toilet door on Valentine's Day, killing his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, has been cleared to live a normal life - at least until June 4 when the case resumes.

Tonight, on SportsTalk on www.702.co.za just after 7pm, we will be asking James Evans, the head of Athletics South Africa, if Oscar will be able to compete in the South African national championships in Cape Town on April 12 and 13. Just this morning, his coach, Ampie Louw, said he hopes to have him back on the track training by Monday.

But do his bail conditions allow Oscar to train... or even compete? Should they be harsher? Will he want to compete again given his apparent emotional state over the past four days in the dock? Oscar was due to spend a further night in Brooklyn Police station tonight as the R100,000 cash installment on his bail could not be paid by the end of the day.

But a last-minute deal with his highly-efficient defence team saw him whisked to an "upmarket home" in plush Waterkloof. After today's lengthy summation from magistrate Desmond Nair - which at one point touched on the Boer War - questions continue to be asked about the role of discredited Investigations Officer Hilton Botha - but for now attention must turn to Oscar's bail order.
 
These are the full set of conditions set by the long-winded Nair after a two-hour speech in Pretoria:

1 Oscar, who has already given up his passport, is not allowed near any airports without permission.

2 |(This is the best bit). He must surrender all firearms.

3 He cannot communicate with prosecution witnesses.

4 Pistorius has to inform authorities if he leaves Tshwane municipality.

5 He must be in contact with a state probation officer to asses his emotional state and receive counselling where necessary.

6 Pistorius is banned from consuming alcohol or drugs. He must take random alcohol and drug tests if instructed.

7 Magistrate Nair turned down the defence's request for R250,000 bail and instead instructed Pistorius to pay R1m - but said he could be released after a cash payment of R100,000.

8: He will return to court on June 4 when the case resumes.

9: He will NOT be permitted to stay at the crime scene, his home in the secure Silver Woods estate east of Pretoria.

10: Pistorius must not return to scene of the shooting, he cannot talk to residents except Stander family and contractors.

11: He must report to Brooklyn police station between 7am and 1pm every Monday and Friday.

Without comment: The Oscar Pistorius affidavit

Charged with murder: Oscar Pretorius

Barry Roux, the advocate for Oscar Pistorius, read this 10-page statement to the court in Pretoria today, while girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, shot four times at Oscar's home on Valentine's Day, was being laid to rest in Port Elizabeth.
Last year, Oscar - still just 25 - became the first amputee to run in the Olympics at the summer games in London.
His application for bail on a charge of murder will continue tomorrow.

"I deny the aforesaid allegation in the strongest terms.

"On 13 February, Reeva would have gone out with her friends and I with my friends.

"Reeva then called me and asked that we rather spend the evening at home.

"I agreed and we were content to have a quiet dinner together at home.

"By about 10pm on 13 February 2013, we were in our bedroom. She was doing her yoga exercises and I was in bed watching television.

"My prosthetic legs were off. We were deeply in love and I could not be happier. I know she felt the same way.

"She had given me a present for Valentine's Day, but asked me only to open it the next day."


"I am acutely aware of violent crime being committed by intruders entering homes with a view to commit crime, including violent crime. I have received death threats before. I have also been a victim of violence and of burglary before.

"For that reason, I kept my firearm, a 9mm Parabellum, underneath my bed when I went to bed at night.

"During the early hours of 14 February, 2013, I woke up, went onto the balcony to bring the fan in and close the sliding door, the blinds and the curtains.

"I heard a noise in the bathroom and realised that someone was in the bathroom. I felt a sense of terror rushing over me.

"There are no burglar bars across the bathroom window and I knew that contractors who worked at my house had left the ladders outside.

"Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on I have mobility on my stumps.

"I believed that someone had entered my house. I was too scared to switch a light on. I grabbed my 9mm pistol from underneath my bed.

"On my way to the bathroom, I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police.

"It was pitch dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed. I noticed that the bathroom window was open. I realised that the intruder/s was/were in the toilet because the toilet door was closed and I did not see anyone in the bathroom.

"I heard movement inside the toilet. The toilet is inside the bathroom and has a separate door.

"It filled me with horror and fear of an intruder or intruders being inside the toilet.

"I thought he or they must have entered through the unprotected window.

"As I did not have my prosthetic legs on and felt extremely vulnerable, I knew I had to protect Reeva and myself.

"I believed that when the intruder/s came out of the toilet we would be in grave danger.

"I felt trapped as my bedroom door was locked and I have limited mobility on my stumps.

"I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to phone the police.

"She did not respond and I moved backwards out of the bathroom, keeping my eyes on the bathroom entrance.

"Everything was pitch dark in the bedroom and I was still too scared to switch on a light. Reeva was not responding.

"When I reached the bed, I realised that Reeva was not in bed.

"That is when it dawned on me that it could have been Reeva who was in the toilet.

"I returned to the bathroom calling her name. I tried to open the toilet door but it was locked. I rushed back into the bedroom and opened the sliding door, exiting onto the balcony and screamed for help.

"I put on my prosthetic legs, ran back to the bathroom and tried to kick the toilet door open.

"I think I must then have turned on the lights.

"I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cricket bat to bash open the toilet door. A panel or panels broke off and I found the key on the floor and unlocked and opened the door.

"Reeva was slumped over but alive.

"I battled to get her out of the toilet and pulled her into the bathroom.

"I phoned Johan Stander who was involved in the administration of the estate and asked him to phone the ambulance. I phoned Netcare and asked for help.

"I went downstairs to open the front door. I returned to the bathroom and picked Reeva up as I had been told not to wait for the paramedics, but to take her to hospital.

"I carried her downstairs in order to take her to the hospital. On my way down, Stander arrived. A doctor who lives in the complex also arrived.

"Downstairs, I tried to render the assistance to Reeva that I could, but she died in my arms.

"I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva.

"With the benefit of hindsight I believe that Reeva went to the toilet when I went out onto the balcony to bring the fan in.

"I cannot bear to think of the suffering I have caused her and her family, knowing how much she was loved.

"I also know that the events of that tragic night were as I have described them and that in due course I have no doubt the police and expert investigators will bear this out."

What we know about Oscar Pistorius. And what we don't

Reeva and friends, retweeted on twitter by Francois Hougaard

There is a thin but comforting line between sport and news. This week, for obvious reasons, the vibrant world of goals, trophies and fans was rudely interrupted by the sound of gunfire.

Oscar Pistorius, the first amputee to compete in the able-bodied Olympics in London this year, is one of South Africa’s few globally recognised sporting stars. The news that he had shot his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp simply shook the world we live in, turned sport upside-down.

Yes, Popes resign, meteorites flash across Russian skies, trains crash… and sport carries glibly on, reporting on Robin van Persie versus Cristiano Ronaldo, South Africa v Pakistan… even Bafana Bafana v Mali despite the war raging around Timbuktu.

But Oscar impinges. He is a genuine sporting hero. Loved by all for his tenacity in the face of being born with no shin bones, his ability to lead an superstar sporting life while most others would retire to a wheelchair and self-pity.

How do we cope when a star of that magnitude appears to be crashing and burning?

The initial tale – picked up wholeheartedly by the Oscar-sympathetic newspapers – suggested he had mistaken the beautiful Reeva for an intruder in his high-security estate. Tragic but accidental.

But once details from unnamed police sources emerged, that theory appeared to fall apart. By Sunday morning, we had suggestions of blood in the bedroom, a shot fired, a cricket bat used… and a frightened woman hiding in the bathroom. Then four bullets through the door.

Two of those bullets hit Reeva in the head. She did not die instantly. Lurid eye-witness reports suggest Oscar tried to resuscitate his girlfriend – though why he called a mutual friend rather than the emergency services to report the incident remain unexplained.

All we can say with any confidence before Oscar’s return to court on Tuesday is that he pulled the trigger, he - and he alone - killed the woman he called “baba”.

With former Sun editor Stuart Higgins arriving to provide “positive spin” to his heavyweight legal team, we read of Oscar’s father Henke telling the UK Sunday Telegraph: “Crime is endemic in South Africa. When you see somebody in your house, you shoot.”

He went on to explain how “Oscar grew up hunting, my sons grew up with guns” and he said Oscar's action were "instinctive - and sportsmen react to instinct" but that hardly explains the need for small arms in a secure estate – or why Oscar had SEVEN more gun licences pending.

It doesn’t explain recent incidents involving the police where Oscar had lost his cool with so-called “love rivals” Quinton van den Bergh and Francois Hougaard.

As journalists – even sports journalists – we are trained not to pre-judge issues until all the facts come to light. In this case, we must attempt to stick to that creed.

But it’s damned difficult.

I’ve spoken to a lad who went to Constantia Primary with Oscar. He says, disabled or not, Pistorius was a bully. That he was cock of the walk at Pretoria Boy’s High. That he was, predictably for a sporting celebrity, surrounded by sycophantic yes men who let him act as he pleased.

The more recent of the many women in his life suggest he was not the most chivalrous of men. Others talk of his parents' divorce, his mother's death. A bloke who, for all his talent, went the way of so many top sportsmen... down the road of arrogance, shagging and insecurity

And always, in the background, the beautiful Reeva, loved by all. Gone.

Given recent cases – Shrien Dewani and Nico Henning spring to mind, just have a look on Google – it’s hard to believe in justice for the well-off and famous. But we must. On Tuesday, let’s hear what forensics have to say. If today's police leaks were accurate. How Oscar’s legal team explain away the shooting of multiple bullets at an apparently defenceless woman.

And hope that justice is done.

This story will appear as my Neal and Pray column in www.thenewage.co.za on Tuesday.

South Africa's medal-winning schedule for London 2012. Hopefully.

The spear: Sunette Viljoen is a contender in the javelin

After a sensational weekend which saw Ernie Els, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn, Richard Murray and even Ajax Cape Town hailed as world-beaters around the globe, it's time to turn our attention to the London Olympics.

Though the top-secret opening ceremony (which will, I can reveal, may feature David Beckham as James Bond) is only on Friday, South Africa's campaign gets underway tomorrow with the football girls Banyana Banyana playing Sweden.

Though Banyana are unlikely to create an upset and take a medal, I reckon South Africa has SEVEN big medal chances, most significantly in the pool, though they may yet reach Sports Minister Fikile Mbulula's hoped-for haul of 12.

Below I've listed all the dates when South Africa can expect to claim silverware (bronzeware or even goldware).

With the swimming starting on Saturday, Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Bergh are both ranked in the world's top ten in several different events, with Le Clos likely to reach the final in both medley events (featuring all four strokes) and Van der Bergh strong in the breast-stroke over 100m and 200m.

The athletics doesn't get underway until August 3, with Caster Semenya, Khotso Mokoena, Sunette Viljoen and men’s 4x400m our most likely medalists. Semenya will have to improve significantly on her 800m times so far this year where she falls outside the world's top ten, but she has done this before, peaking out of the blue. She is predicted to win gold by the athletics bible, Track and Field Weekly.

Long-jumper Mokoena, our only medal-winner in Beijing four years ago, is an almost certain finalist, along with javelinist Viljoen and the men's 4x400m team, which might include Oscar "Bladerunner" Pistorius, who ran in the qualifiers when the team won silver at the World Championships. Pistorius, the first amputee to compete in an Olympics, admits "a strong semi-final" is as far as he's going to get in the individual 400m.

Keep an eye out too for LJ Van Zyl, the one-lap relay specialist who is also an outside hope in the men's 400m hurdles.

After his first world triathlon triumph in Hamburg last Saturday, Richard Murray, the 23-year-old from Cape Town, could big news on Tuesday, August 7 when the men take to the water, bike and trainers.

The three big team events (women’s football and men’s and women’ hockey) offer outside hopes too, particularly women's hockey, though all three teams are ranked outside the podium places.

Cycling could be another rich source of valuable metal for South Africa. Mountain-biker Burry Stander, a World Cup winner in Pietermaritzburg last season, is listed on my schedule of potential medal winners below, along with women’s road race contender Ashleigh Moolman and BMX hopeful Sifiso Nhlapo, so unlucky in Beijing.

I'm told Bridgitte Hartley could also medal in K1 500 canoeing among the blazing paddles at Dorney, and the men's coxless lightweight four came second in the last World Cup in Lucerne. There are other outside chances, but I’ve listed all the above below, featuring only Le Clos and Vd Bergh's strongest events. South Africa could also feature in the men's relay finals, Le Clos is entered for a record SEVEN events at the brand new aquadome.

SA medal winning Olympic schedule (* marks medal chance):

Wednesday, 25: Women’s football kicks off tomorrow with Banyana Banyana v Sweden

Friday, 27: Opening ceremony, watch out for Vikings and Romans

Saturday 28: Banyana Banyana second game

*Sunday 29: Women’s road race cycling: Ashleigh Moolman

*Sunday 29: Men’s 100m breast-stroke: Cameron vd Bergh
*Tuesday, 31: Men's 200m Butterfly: Chad Le Clos

*Thursday 2: Rowing: Men's lightweight four: Brittain, Ndlovu, Smith, Thompson
*Friday 3: Men's 100m Butterfly: Chad Le Clos

*Saturday 4: Men’s long jump final: Khotso Mokoena

*Sunday 5: Men’s 100m final: Usain Bolt etc and women’s marathon with strong SA team

*Tuesday 7: Men’s triathlon: Richard Murray

*Thursday 9: Women’s K1 500: Bridgitte Hartley

*Thursday 9: Women’s javelin final, Sunette Viljoen.

*Friday 10: Men’s BMX final: Sifiso Nhlapo

*Friday 10: Men’s 4x400m relay: Oscar Pistorius, Van Zyl, Fredericks, Ofentse Mogawane, Willie de Beer and Shaun de Jager.

Friday 10: Women’s hockey final

Saturday 11: Men’s hockey final

*Saturday 11: Final of women’s 800m: Caster Semenya

*Sunday 12: Men's mountain biking: Burry Stander