South Africa: The injustice of justice

Johannesburg 22 October: Last week Oscar Pistorius walked out of prison following a decision by the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Supervision and Parole Board that he serve the rest of his sentence (until 2019) under correctional supervision house arrest.

The news of Pistorius’ parole comes as the world prepares for the 16 Days of Activism of No Violence against Women and Children from 25 November to 10 December.

The news follows Pistorius’ conviction of culpable homicide for the shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp less than 12 months ago. Under South African law, an offender sentenced to five years or less can be released under correctional supervision after servicing one sixth of the term, ten months in the case of Pristorius.

The state is appealing the verdict that gave Pistorius such a light sentence, arguing that Pistorius should be found guilty of murder.

Pistorius will be back in court in November for the state appeal.  The State’s argument is that Judge Masipa misinterpreted parts of the law and ignored important evidence. If the state wins, Pistorius could face fifteen months in jail.

His release now, a day early to evade the media, caused a storm of protest on social media. “If the state can’t punish him, the public will,À wrote one citizen on twitter.

South Africa’s female homicide rate is six times the global average, with half of these deaths caused by intimate male partners. Put simply, men kill four women every day in the name of love.

The Department of Justice and Correctional Services says correctional supervision is as punitive as incarceration and has significant benefits financially and socially. The Department says that housing an offender in prison costs R329.20 per day; R10  000 a  month and R118  500 a year. The question is: when did such costs outweigh human life?

Pristorius walking out of jail flies in the face of seemingly progressive legislation in place to empower women, in   particular the Domestic Violence Act of 1998 (DVA), hailed as progressive as it casts a wide range of intimate and partner relationships to include heterosexual, gay and lesbian relationships; marriage and co-habitation.

Yet of the 226 402 protection order applications made in 2009 only 79  098 (34%) were granted. This rose to 224  486 applications with only 80  714 (35. 9%) granted in 2010, and 217  987 applications, 87  711 (40, 2%) granted in 2011.

This is just the tip of the iceberg as less than a third of domestic violence cases are reported to the police. Most women regard violence at the hands of their partner (s) as a private affair.

The early parole of Pistorius certainly does not inspire confidence in the criminal justice system.

The underlying question becomes, is there a separate set of rules and laws for the rich and famous?  Is there a separate set of rules for women and another for men? If the roles had been reversed À“ if Reeva had short Pistorius À“ would she have been released from jail?

Justice, it seems, remains fundamentally unjust.

(Sehlaphi ‘DawuÀ Sibanda is a consultant and researcher based in Johannesburg South Africa. This article forms part of the Gender Links News Service that offers fresh views on every day news).