--- title: What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa | TIME description: How the controversial Oscar Pistorius murder trial points to bigger issues in South Africa. canonical: https://time.com/video/INXGoumY/ og:title: What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa og:description: How the controversial Oscar Pistorius murder trial points to bigger issues in South Africa. og:url: https://time.com/video/INXGoumY/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/INXGoumY/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa twitter:description: How the controversial Oscar Pistorius murder trial points to bigger issues in South Africa. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/INXGoumY/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa [Watch (HLS stream): What the Pistorius Case Reveals about South Africa](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/INXGoumY.m3u8) (4:03)  _Published 2013-02-28. How the controversial Oscar Pistorius murder trial points to bigger issues in South Africa._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:30 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Oscar Pistorius Takes The Stand In Murder Trial](/video/l418nqZL/) ### Oscar Pistorius Takes The Stand In Murder Trial [Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial: The Prosecution Rests](/video/AIZiRPEe/) ### Oscar Pistorius Murder Trial: The Prosecution Rests [Oscar Pistorius Gun Range Video Emerges Just Days Before Murder Trial](/video/WNYamxoV/) ### Oscar Pistorius Gun Range Video Emerges Just Days Before Murder Trial --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] My name is Jim Frederick. I am the editor of Time International. And today, we are talking about Alex Perry's cover story on Oscar Pistorius. Oscar Pistorius is a national hero. He's the paralympian sprinter who was born without fibula. And he runs with carbon graphite legs. He won two gold medals in the Paralympics in London, and he competed and you know, did very well in the 2012 regular Olympics. He is a national hero, and is one of the most glamorous stars in all of South Africa, and he had a beautiful and fabulous a model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. They'd only been dating since November, but it seemed like they had this whirlwind, storybook romance and they were the it couple of the entire country. Not too long ago, however, police were called to his home where he had shot his girlfriend through the locked door of his bathroom. He was immediately charged with murder. But the case is gotten more complicated because he has said in court that it was, not necessarily self defense, but he thought that his girlfriend was actually an intruder. And one of the things that makes this story. Why Alex Perry is so remarkable is that he dives deep into the South African culture of race, violence, violence against women, white fear of a black menace. Why so many South Africans own so many guns. Why violence and distrust of the police are so pervasive that people think that they need to take self defense into their own hands. And it's really a complex tapestry about this case that's far deeper and more nuanced than most of the sensationalistic tabloid, accounts that have come out so far, which are calling this, you know, the OJ Simpson case of, of South Africa. What you have, is you have a, a deeply corrupt police force. You have a place where crime is, is really very rampant, and their response to this then has been that private policing. Either especially whites taking up arms to defend themselves or hiring private contractors is just a way of life in South Africa. Something like 400, 000 personal security forces in the entire country, which is something like double the number of policemen. And a lot of compounds in white South Africa are really armed to the hilt and they're almost like little outposts and little fortresses. The ANC, which is the party of Mandela, which was the bringer of peace and freedom, has had, just, intense and, and really disturbing scandals. In terms of sexual impropriety and financial impropriety. You add to that you know, police force that seems to be involved in murder charges as often as the criminals that they purport to be policing. This is a country that's the size of France or the size of the state of Texas where it seems to be at almost permanent war with, with it's self. And that's really an untold story I think on the International community. That this case has, has highlighted has brought, renewed scrutiny to South Africa but it's much more then just. You know, an icon killing his girlfriend. Whether or not he's determined to be guilty of murder are not is almost irrelevant to the fact he is a falling idol. He is a symbol, in a lot of ways, of, of a culture that doesn't trust itself because he, like so many white Africans in Pretoria, heavily armed. He owns several guns within his home, and his primary for this murder, for these murder charges, is that he thought there was an intruder in his home. Which, if you look at the violent history or the violent culture in Africa. You know, without making any claim one way or another. 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