* The Oscar Pistorius Trial is turning every Tom, Thumbie and Tahera into a legal eagle.
There is a school of thought that swears that Oscar will “hang”. Others believe the defence has created enough doubt in the mind of the judge to let Oscar “walk” eventually, and yet there are some who are simply mesmerised at the length the rule of law takes to convict or set free an accused. No doubt the trial is being closely followed by Law students. It has also attracted immense international attention.
One has to admire the judge for her demeanour during the trial. She maintains her decorum throughout the cross-examination. And Mr Roux does not leave any pebble unturned, does he? Pugnacious Defence Counsel demonstrated that neighbours might be wrong about what they heard. But remember, the state’s case is one of premeditated murder. And the onus is on the prosecution to prove that Pistorius’ version of events cannot, reasonably, be correct.
At times I wonder what’s going through the judge’s mind. Does she, perhaps, think, “Did I switch the stove off when I left home this morning?” “WTF am I doing here?” “The witness answered that bloody question five times. Why on earth are you trying to draw blood from a rock?” “Oh oh, there he goes fidgeting with his glasses again. This is going to be a long day.” And so forth. Judges are human, after all.
* With the trial broadcast live on television, presiding Judge Thokozile Masipa (66) has not escaped the scrutiny of millions watching around the world. Criticism has centred on Masipa permitting a fierce line of questioning from Barry Roux, known for his hectoring style of cross-examination. Are witnesses less likely to come forward, for fear they may face a Roux-like buzz saw? But it is a known fact that cross-examination is a robust court process and it can get really aggressive.
What we have seen so far is the cross-examining of the state witnesses by the defence; the same will happen when the state gets to the defence witnesses. Masipa was appointed a judge in 1998 and was only the second black woman to be admitted to the bench at the time. She studied Law in her 40s. Before that, she was a crime journalist and a social worker.
In a decade-and-a-half on the bench, she has presided over criminal cases involving rape and murder, and has spoken out strongly about violence against women. She handed down a 252-year prison sentence to a serial rapist last year, and has been outspoken about the government’s rights and responsibilities towards ordinary South Africans.
But none of these cases saw the glare of a trial televised around the world. I think she portrays a positive picture of our judiciary system.
* Last week, Swaziland’s King Mswati III inaugurated a new $280m airport even though the project is years away from being operational and has been dubbed a “white elephant”. It has taken 11 years to build the airport, at a cost equivalent to almost 10% of the impoverished mountain kingdom’s 2012 Gross Domestic Product. It has yet to be granted an operating licence by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and no airlines are expected to make use of the airport for years to come. Locked between Mozambique and South Africa, Swaziland remains one of the world’s poorest countries, though its monarch is estimated to have a fortune of around $200m.
* Eskom power outages is yet another example of a banana republic mentality. To add insult to injury, the Danskraal power station that went on the blink on Saturday did not help Eskom’s cause. It just left more residents and business houses fuming in anger.
* Saudi Arabia has formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. The Saudi regime, a lapdog of the US and Britain, is fearful of an uprising of its citizens against the Saudi principle of dynastic rule.
