The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) has welcomed Thursday’s decision by the Constitutional Court to dismiss Pistorius’s leave to appeal his conviction.
“As part of the CGE’s constitutional and legal mandate to monitor court cases, the commission is pleased that our judicial system is independent and South Africans must continue to safeguard and respect the independence of our courts.
“This will send a strong message that despite one’s position in society, the rule of law should not only be heard but seen to be functioning, henceforth the need to apply without fear or favour,” the commission said.
On Thursday, the country’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, concluded that Pistorius’s application should be dismissed for “lack of prospects of success”.
Pistorius approached the Constitutional Court after the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned his culpable homicide conviction and ruled that he was guilty of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, three years ago.
The Supreme Court of Appeal had found that the principle of dolus eventualis was wrongly applied.
Pistorius, who is out on R10 000 bail, will now have to appear in the High Court in Pretoria on April 18, for sentencing.
Meanwhile, former Jozi FM presenter Donald Sebolai will be sentenced in the High Court sitting in Palm Ridge in the East Rand today. Sebolai has been convicted of killing his girlfriend Dolly Tshabalala in 2014.
