SOUTH AFRICA: South African church-goers pray for paralympian Oscar Pistorius who is in police custody accused of murdering his girlfriend

Record ID: 458927

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: South African church-goers pray for paralympian Oscar Pistorius who is in police custody accused of murdering his girlfriend
  • Date: 17th February 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PASTOR WILLIE BOOYSEN SAYING: "Supporting both families with prayer and encouragement and not taking sides." (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOKUBONGA SHABALALA, SAYING: "You can't judge him because none of us know what exactly happened. So it's not our place to pass around gossip and to talk about things we are not sure about what happened. All we can do is support the family and pray for them. And everyone who is involved." PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Religion,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA40433TWIIDVH24L6QZQ5TXTX
  • Story Text: A church in Pretoria held a special prayer service on Sunday (February 17, 2013) for Paralympian Oscar Pistorius who is being held in police custody after he was charged with murdering his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
    Police said they opened a murder case after a 30-year-old woman was found dead at the Paralympic and Olympic star's house in the Silverlakes gated complex on the capital's outskirts.
    Pistorius, 26, and his girlfriend Steenkamp, had been the only people in the house at the time of the shooting, police told reporters that witnesses had been interviewed about the early morning incident.
    Anthony Pistorius, the 'Blade Runner's' uncle reiterated the family's belief that the track star - a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics when he ran at last year's Olympics - had not shot Steenkamp deliberately.
    Several South African media reports have said Steenkamp was shot through the bathroom door and was hit four times - in the head, hip, arm and hand.
    Police said on Thursday witnesses had heard disturbances at the home before the shots, adding that there had been previous incidents of a "domestic nature" at the home.
    Conrad Booysen, presiding pastor of the Elim Full Gospel Church said they hoped God would comfort both families.
    "I cannot imagine the heartache and the pain that both sets of family must be feeling and suffering at this point in time and so our prayers go out to everyone. We stand in faith that God's will be done in the circumstance. We stand in faith that both sets of families and everyone involved will be comforted in this time of heartache and pain."
    Whatever the true circumstances behind the crime, the congregation did not and wanted not to takes sides. "With Oscar being in prison and the whole case going on I think it's important for the church to show the love of God in the whole situation," said a member of the Elim Full Gospel Church, Kagiso Tsatsane. And pastor Willie Booysen added: "Supporting both families with prayer and encouragement and not taking sides."
    Another church member reiterated Booysen's views as details of what happened on the fateful are night remain unclear. "You can't judge him because none of us know what exactly happened so it's not our place to pass around gossip and to talk about things we are not sure about what happened. All we can do is support the family and pray for them," said Nokuthula Shabalala.
    Police recovered a 9mm pistol from his home after the shooting. The Afrikaans-language Beeld newspaper said Pistorius had a license for one firearm and applications pending for a further seven, including a semi-automatic rifle.
    Pistorius will appear in court next Tuesday and Wednesday for a formal bail hearing.
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