Intention was key to Judge Masipa's verdict on Oscar Pistorius today. The paralympian, who shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was found not guilty of murder on the basis there weren't enough facts to support that finding.
Intention was key to Judge Masipa's verdict on Oscar Pistorius today. The paralympian, who shot his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, was found not guilty of murder on the basis there weren't enough facts to support that finding.
While he may still be convicted for culpable homicide, social media platforms are practically aflame with outrage with groups such as #JusticeForReeva tweeting that Oscar got away with murder.
It must have been extraordinarily difficult to sift through the dynamics of a relationship, the individual histories of the people concerned and, placing them within the framework of evidence and the way the law works, come to a considered judgment.
While there's nothing as serious as murder involved, we hope that the person arriving on Monday to repair the wreck that is Makana, has the weight and judgment needed to make strong choices.
Clean-ups seem to be a strong theme in our town at the moment, with a dirty smudge even on the Beautiful Game. We don't have many top soccer teams, so when one of the local league teams gets booted out of the season's play for allegedly fighting dirty, it's a big loss.
The new commander at the Grahamstown Police Station made her intentions clear when she reportedly had staff giving the rather grubby facility a top to toe spring-clean this week. Reputed to have zero tolerance for either crime or ill-discipline, she could be good news for a properly functioning police force in Grahamstown.
The city may be struggling to keep its head above water with the apparent ruin we see in our infrastructure and finances, but there are people just getting on with things anyway. There have been no fewer than three conferences here this week – the Highway Africa journalism conference last weekend, and the Reading Association of South Africa and International Folklore conferences this weekend.
Professional, high-powered and relevant, Highway Africa, hosted at Rhodes University, offered local media professionals the chance to network with their peers from the rest of Africa, and the world.
Grahamstown did that.
Another school in the area was closed down by parents this week – angry that their children don't have the teachers they need. The Bathurst school protest is the latest in a string of actions by parents who have turned to desperate measures to try and get what their children need for a good education.
We are seeing public officials being held to account more and more by ordinary citizens boosted by legal know-how. It's looking a lot more difficult for those in power to get away with murder.
