SUMMARY: It's been 25 years since South Africa dismantled apartheid, and while political progress has occurred, the young democracy continues to face hurdles. In recent years, extreme drought pushed the country to the brink of disaster, and although rainfall finally mitigated the situation, persistent water shortages are now a part of daily life. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports.
SUMMARY: This week marks 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela, who led a struggle against apartheid and brought his country to a new democratic future, while setting a political and moral example recognized around the globe. Now a new book that offers insight into Mandela's remarkable story through his own words. Jeffrey Brown takes a closer look with special correspondent Charlayne Hunter-Gault.
SUMMARY: Fearing the complete depletion of their water supply amid an extreme drought, officials in South Africa’s second most populous city have limited water consumption to 13 gallons per resident a day. Police are also fining people for watering their lawns or washing their cars. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Martin Seemungal reports on how people are adjusting.
SUMMARY: Factors like population growth, income inequality and climate change have exacerbated water related issues around the world. Abuse and depletion of the natural resource has led to instability and violence in places like Iran, Syria, and Bangladesh as well as crises in the U.S. Jay Famiglietti, NASA’s senior water scientist, joins Hari Sreenivasan from Los Angeles to discuss the global pattern.
SUMMARY: Over the course of his six-decade career, Hugh Masekela's jazz and anti-apartheid activism made him a beloved international figure. In exile, he used his music as a form of activism to call for Nelson Mandela's release from prison and freedom in South Africa. Masekela died Tuesday in Johannesburg at 78 years old.
SUMMARY: Africa’s first contemporary art museum just opened its doors in Cape Town, South Africa, featuring art from across the continent and the African diaspora. The grand new space has a grand ambition, to tell the stories of a diverse continent and reclaim how it and its people are perceived. Jeffrey Brown reports.
SUMMARY: Protests in South Africa over a statue of a 19th century diamond magnate and colonial conqueror set off a national debate two years ago about the remnants of apartheid? As part of his ongoing series, Culture at Risk, Jeffrey Brown reports on the symbols and monuments in South Africa's past that are still being fought over today.
No, we're not getting a jump on April Fools' Day — this coffee could put you on the ground. Black Insomnia Coffee is officially the strongest coffee in the world — strong enough to be dangerous, according to CNN.
How strong is Black Insomnia? The dangerous brew, made from robusta beans, is almost three times stronger than Starbucks' dark roast and more than six times stronger than McDonald's coffee. The International Food Information Council recommends a maximum 300mg of caffeine daily, while the FDA's limit is 400mg. One 12-ounce cup of Black Insomnia has 702mg. And that's enough to be harmful to many people.
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine researcher Mary Sweeney said, speaking of Black Insomnia's caffeine content, “This makes it easier to consume more caffeine than you intend to and effects can range from mild to severe, for example, jitteriness, nervousness, restlessness, and trouble sleeping. The most serious effect would be cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).”
Newly retired coffee lover Sean Kristafor founded Black Insomnia in June 2016. Kristafor's goal was to create the strongest coffee in the world. To prove Black Insomnia deserved the title, the company had its coffee tested against other strong brands, with an eye on Death Wish coffee, the previous claimant.
According to Caffeine Informer, Death Wish coffee has 54.2mg of caffeine per fluid ounce — Black Insomnia scores 58.5mg. By comparison, Starbucks dark roast has 21.25mg, Red Bull energy drink has 9.46mg, and Coca-Cola has 2.8mg.
At first, the brew was available only in cafés in Cape Town, South Africa. Jump forward five months to October, and Kristafor had customers in 22 countries. Now Black Insomnia is selling 5 to 6 tons of coffee each month.
“We're the leader in the strong coffee category and are not letting up anytime soon,” Death Wish customer service representative Calden Tuller told CNN. “Our coffee is much different than the competition, due to the fact that our roast is USDA certified organic, and fair trade certified as well.”
Caffeine Informer's editor Ted Kallmyer places Black Insomnia on its list of the most dangerous caffeinated products. Kallmyer said habitual coffee drinkers build up a tolerance over time so exceeding 400mg a day doesn't harm them. “However, the problem with these products is that they can inadvertently be consumed by people who are not in the targeted category.”
Be wary out there if someone hands you a cup of coffee and says, “Be careful, it's strong.” They may not be kidding.
SUMMARY: South Africa is known for its breathtaking vineyards -- but the poor urban settlements of Cape Town are not. Yet here, too, farmers are relying on growing grapes to support themselves, in a community where the average annual income is only $1800. The Township Winery represents an experiment that could revolutionize the socio-economics of the city. Special correspondent Martin Seemungal reports.
JOHN YANG (NewsHour): From food to drink, our Thanksgiving meal theme continues with a story about a new vintage from South Africa.
Special correspondent Martin Seemungal brings us the story of some fledgling vintners trying their hands at the ancient craft in the unlikeliest of places.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL, Special correspondent: South Africa`s breathtaking vineyards near Cape Town, perfectly manicured estates spreading for miles in every direction, famous for world class wines. But a world away, from the sprawling townships on the outskirts of the city — infamous for forced resettlement of mixed race and black South Africans, for crime and poverty — you have to look pretty hard to find a common link — but it is there, one little square among a sea of shacks, a man planting a vineyard.
Manelisi Mapukata is part of an innovative collective; growing wine grapes in small plots that will one day make wine. `The township winery started production using grapes from those traditional winemaking areas, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinotage, but the labels are unique… The Flats, Philippi, names from this part of town. Ultimately, more and more of the grapes will come from these tiny township plots.
MANELISI MAPUKATA, Vineyard Farmer: I feel proud about it because if just give me enough time also I will learn more about grapes. How it`s important to have in our townships. People can learn. People can come to visit also to see what is happening.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: The vines he is planting here won`t actually be ready to bear fruit for another three years, but after that, he will have a guaranteed harvest every year, and that means a guaranteed income.
That guaranteed income is an enormously important project to the farmers. Many have spent years growing and selling vegetables and have been at the mercy of fluctuating prices. Those empty rows in a section of this small plot will soon be growing grapes and ultimately earn annually as much as all vegetables combined.
Lulama says it will change their lives.
LULAMA, Vineyard Farmer: It means that we want to generate more income so that we can put bread on the table for our children and the generations to come.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: They stand to double what they are making now. The average income here is roughly $1,800 a year. Easy to understand why people are energized, why word is spreading.
Nomhle Zondani is marketing the Township Winery internationally, and here in South Africa, she also has to manage expectations among these first time growers.
NOMHLE ZONDANI, Marketer, The Township Winery: Its not going to be an easy money making scheme. You`re not going to get rich in like two years. So, within that five years, you will get exposure. We will bring people to say this is an idea that we have we would love to grow it and after five years, we would then we will have this whatever grape we can harvest from those vines.
SUMMARY: South Africa announced it will withdraw from the International Criminal Court, whose oversight includes 124 member nations. Burundi's parliament has also voted to leave the court, which was established in 2002 to investigate and prosecute war crimes. Andrew Meldrum, the acting Africa Editor for the Associated Press, joins Hari Sreenivasan from Johannesburg.
HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR WEEKEND ANCHOR: The United Nations' Human Rights Council in Geneva voted yesterday to start a formal inquiry into the Syrian government's bombardment of Aleppo, with the U.N.'s top envoy to Syria saying the military strikes on the city, aided by Russia, may amount to war crimes. The probe could eventually lead to a trial before the International Criminal Court, which was established in 2002 to investigate and prosecute wartime atrocities.
However, the court received a vote of no confidence yesterday when South Africa announced it will withdraw from the court's oversight. It's the second nation to do so — the other is Burundi — and it is unclear how many countries might follow their lead. The court has 124 member nations, including 34 in Africa.
Joining me now to discuss South Africa's move and how damaging it might be is Andrew Meldrum, the acting Africa editor for The Associated Press. He's in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Thanks for joining us.
So, why did South Africa take this step?
ANDREW MELDRUM, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: South Africa made the decision to leave the International Criminal Court because it did not like the court's decision that South Africa should have arrested the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir, when he visited South Africa more than a year ago. And South Africa said the court should not be telling it to arrest sitting heads of state. There should have been diplomatic immunity. And so, they said they don't like that — what they called interference — from the ICC.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Coming on the heels of the withdrawal from Burundi, is this part of a larger trend?
ANDREW MELDRUM: Well, that — there are many that are worried that this — that the two African — that the decision of the two African countries to leave the ICC this week could set off a movement where several other African countries withdraw from the ICC.
Already, the African Union, which represents all 54 countries of Africa, has said that they don't think that the ICC should press charges against any sitting head of state. And Uganda's deputy foreign minister has said that he would like to see this issue of African members being in the ICC be brought up at the next African Union meeting.
HARI SREENIVASAN: So, why is this happening among African nations and not everywhere else? Do they feel disproportionately prosecuted?
ANDREW MELDRUM: That is the complaint, in fact. All six current prosecutions or prosecutions in the process are of Africans, and there, so far, the ICC has not indicted or pressed charges against any other people from any other part world. They do have the — the ICC does have investigations pending against leaders of Colombia and Afghanistan, but so far, no charges have been pressed.
And so, African leaders have said — they've complained for a couple of years now or more, that it's only Africans that the ICC is pressing charges against, and they think that is unfair.
SUMMARY: In South Africa, thousands were killed and tens of thousands were detained under the watch of former apartheid-era government official Adriaan Vlok. Once seen by some as the regime’s “face of evil,” Vlok is now seeking redemption by reaching out to the people he helped to oppress. Special correspondent Martin Seemungal reports.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): A generation has passed since South Africa ended apartheid. And while the country has made progress towards reconciling years of state-sanctioned, violent oppression, the reckoning continues.
At the same time, there have been smaller, individual efforts to do penance.
Tonight, special correspondent Martin Seemungal brings us the story of a man who was once the very symbol of apartheid, as he tries to make amends.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL (NewsHour): It is an unusual scene in South Africa, a white man in his late ’70s in a black township delivering free food to the needy.
But it’s not just what the man is doing. It’s who the man is or, who he was. His name is Adriaan Vlok, and he was a cabinet minister during the harshest years of apartheid, known as a ruthless defender of white minority rule over the black majority.
MONDLI MAKHANYA, Writer, “City Press”: Adriaan Vlok was the manifestation of the evil that the apartheid regime was. And he was the worst of the worst.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: Mondli Makhanya was an anti-apartheid activist then. Today, he is an outspoken editorial writer for a Johannesburg newspaper.
MONDLI MAKHANYA: From the mid-1980s, I would venture to say, other than President P.W. Botha at the time, he was the most evil man in South Africa, and he was the face of the evil of the apartheid regime.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: As minister of law and order, Vlok was responsible for the police, the shock troops in the war against black activists fighting apartheid. A bloody, violent fight, thousands were killed. Tens of thousands were detained, locked up without trial, all under the watch of Adriaan Vlok.
SUMMARY: Scientists have discovered a new human-like species, deep in a cave system in South Africa. Researchers have said that the discovery could change our conception of human ancestry. For more on the discovery, Jeffrey Brown speaks to Jamie Shreeve of National Geographic Magazine and excavation team member Becca Peixotto.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): Researchers announced a fossil discovery today that some consider one of the greatest in the last 50 years, and one that could provide an important link in the family tree for all humans.
Jeffrey Brown has the story.
JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour): The bones were found in a deep cave 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg. And the way they were found and then gathered is another incredible part of the story.
In all, 1,500 fossil remains were brought up and contained remains of 15 individuals of all different ages. Scientists named the new species Homo Naledi and created this rendering.
The quest is chronicled in the new issue of “National Geographic” and in a special documentary airing on “NOVA” next week called “The Dawn of Humanity.” (link to full show, 1:53:07)
Here’s a short clip.
NARRATOR: As the analysis goes on, the bones from the Rising Star cave are finally ready to be presented to the world.
MAN: We have got a new species of early human in the genus Homo, and that’s tremendously exciting.
We have never had anything in that transition period between the late Australopithecus and the earliest members of our genus in any kind of abundance, and, boy, we have it in abundance now.
NARRATOR: To members of the team, the fossils suggest a creature unlike anything ever found before.
MAN: We are looking at creatures that are humanlike in their feet, humanlike in their hands, humanlike in their teeth. Everything that interacts directly with the environment is Homo, and everything that’s sort of central, you know, the trunk, the architecture of the vertebral column, the brain, those sorts of things are more primitive. It’s like evolution is crafting us from the outside in.
SUMMARY: Named for the most feared snake in Africa, the Black Mambas are a specially trained all-female anti-poaching team. Day and night, they sweep through a South African game reserve, protecting rhinos and other endangered species and looking for any signs of poachers. Special correspondent Martin Seemungal reports.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): But, first, the high-profile killing of Cecil the lion by an American dentist in Zimbabwe recently has put the spotlight back on big game hunting and poaching in Africa.
Today, Zimbabwe lifted the ban on lion, leopard and elephant hunting, which it imposed after the killing and worldwide attention which followed.
Tonight, we take a look at efforts to stop illegal poaching in neighboring South Africa, with a one-of-a-kind group which is fighting to protect endangered species.
NewsHour special correspondent Martin Seemungal has our story.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL (NewsHour): They take their name from the most feared snake in Africa. The Black Mambas are a specially trained all-women anti-poaching unit, protecting rhinos and other endangered species.
FELICIA MOHAKANE, Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit: I wanted to protect the rhinos.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: Mm-hmm. .
FELICIA MOHAKANE: Because I heard a lot about people, those who are killing rhinos. So I just had an interest that I must have and work here and — and protect those rhinos.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: Right.
They’re critical eyes and ears on the ground, patrolling the perimeter fences, looking for any signs of poacher incursions. They walk 20 miles, often longer, during the day, and they work at night, a loud, very visible display that they are still watching after dark.
They use a vehicle at night because it is far too dangerous to come out on foot. But there are still threats. The wild animals — that’s an elephant they have to back off. Lions and leopards hunt at night. Poachers are usually heavily armed. All of the women admit it wasn’t easy in the beginning.
Siphiwe Sithole is one of the Black Mamba veterans. She runs the operation center, but spent three years on the beat in the bush.
SUMMARY: In South Africa this year there has been a wave of xenophobic attacks against migrants coming from other parts of Africa. Special correspondent Martin Seemungal looks at roots of the violence and the fear that these foreigners face.
GWEN IFILL (NewsHour): We turn now to South Africa, where a wave of violence against migrants earlier this year left many victims frightened and the government struggling for a solution to the resurgence of xenophobia, the fear of people from other countries.
NewsHour special correspondent Martin Seemungal has our report from Durban, South Africa.
A warning: Some of the images in this story may be disturbing.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL (NewsHour): Six dead, hundreds injured, 5,000 migrants forced to seek refuge in hastily organized camps, all due to a wave of anti-foreigner violence in South Africa.
Police have watched over this refugee camp for immigrants for two months, guarding people who came here for safety, being told now it is time to return home.
Anicet Bigirimana is from Burundi. He says the attack on his family was sudden and extremely violent.
ANICET BIGIRIMANA, Migrant: The first time they came, they put — they took my son. They put him — a tire in the petrol. They almost burned him. But today — there’s another neighbor who grip (grabbed) him from their hands. That’s how they started.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: This Somali immigrant running for his life from a group of South Africans also survived, this attack, one of many in April, part of a wave of xenophobic attacks against other Africans living and working here.
According to official statistics, there are just over two million immigrants in South Africa, and somewhere between 500,000 and one million are undocumented. The worst violence was in the Durban area. Parts of downtown became battle zones, as migrants fought back.
It appeared to be part of a systematic campaign against people from African countries, in particular Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Congo, and Malawi, but there is no clear indication who was responsible for organizing the attacks.
Chris Van Den Berg is a city councilman for a district in Durban that includes a number of villages in the surrounding hills.
CHRIS VAN DEN BERG, City Councillor, Durban: There was a group about 80-odd plus, people with bangers and bush knives, telling people very clearly that they could not be here Sunday morning, that they were going to be — they were either going to be killed or attacked.
SUMMARY: A Muslim academic recently opened a gay- and women-friendly mosque in Cape Town, South Africa, which was largely regarded as a response to the culture of exclusion and conservatism in the Muslim faith. And despite receiving death threats and fierce criticism, experts say the house of worship's policies represent an adaptation of centuries-old traditions. Martin Seemungal reports.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL (NewsHour): The call to prayer at Cape Towns newest mosque, which advertises itself as one of a kind in South Africa.
TAJ HARGEY: We are the only mosque by the way in the whole country that has the words all welcome. We chose the name open mosque to really identify what the mosque was about—it was open to all.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: Sixty-year-old Taj Hargey is the man behind this new mosque– a mosque he sees worthy of being replicated in other parts of the world.
Hargey says his mosque is open to non-muslims, homosexuals—women are allowed to preach from the pulpit—they pray side by side with the men.
Tanweer is one of the few who prays here regularly ever since the Mosque opened last September.
TANWEER: I come to this mosque every week because this is the only mosque that I know of where there’s equality in the genders, where females sit and can actually view the sermon from the front and we’re considered equals to men.
MARTIN SEEMUNGAL: A counter, he says, to the daily stream of news and images that portray Islam as extremist and violent.
In fact, Hargey has been challenging Muslim orthodoxy for years.
Born and raised in Cape Town Hargey went abroad and studied at Oxford-he has a PHD in Religious studies.
He made headlines in Britain last year because of his ‘ban the burqa’ campaign.
-----
TAJ HARGEY: This idea of face masking (burqa), if its an Islamic practice. Why is it banned in mecca? No woman which goes to mecca the holiest mosque in Islam is allowed to cover her face—so this notion that is an Islamic practice with due respect is nonsense..it may be a cultural expression..fine..it may be a personal wish..fine—If I want to put a bone through my nose—I have a right..but then do I have a right to say a bone through my nose is an Islamic thing?
GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Millions of people around the world watched early today as South Africans, world leaders, celebrities and a vibrant community of mourners paid final respects to the country's former president and anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela.
A cold rain didn't dampen the spirits of tens of thousands who came from far and near to the four-hour service. Downpours may have kept others away, with just two-thirds of the stadium's 95,000 seats filled. But the weather took nothing away from a celebration of Nelson Mandela's life and legacy that was at turns jubilant, raucous and solemn.
The late leader's nephew spoke for his family, praising the humility of the man widely known with affection by his clan name.
GEN. THANDUXOLO MANDELA, nephew of Nelson Mandela: In his lifetime, Madiba mingled with kings, queens and presidents, and prime ministers, captains of industries and ordinary workers. At the core of his being, he was a man of the people.
Celebrating one of his personal heroes, President Barack Obama praised Nelson Mandela as the last great liberator of the 20th century, urging the world to carry on his legacy by fighting inequality, poverty and discrimination.
At a memorial service in Johannesburg, Obama compared the former South African President to Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln.
"For nothing he achieved was inevitable," Obama said. "In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness, persistence and faith. He tells us what's possible not just in the pages of dusty history books, but in our own lives as well."
The crowd at the half-filled stadium erupted in applause each time Obama's name was mentioned or his image was shown on the screen. Dozens gathered below the box seats where Obama and other U.S. presidents sat, waving and snapping pictures of the leaders.
As if to underscore the spirit of reconciliation that Mandela's life embodied, Obama shook hands with Cuban President Raul Castro as he made his way down a line of world leaders gathered to honor the anti-apartheid leader. It was a rare moment of accord for the leaders of the two Cold War enemies.
Calling himself a beneficiary of Mandela's struggle, Obama traced the influence that Mandela's story has had on his own life, disclosing that he asks himself how well he's applied Mandela's lessons to himself as a man and as President.
He said in the U.S., South Africa and around the world, people must not allow progress that's been made to cloud the fact that more work must be done.
"We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba's legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality," Obama said, referring to Mandela by his traditional clan name.
Extolling Mandela as practical but unyielding on his core principles, Obama said it was because Mandela could admit to being imperfect that the world loved him and continues to learn so much from his example. "He was not a bust made of marble. He was a man of flesh and blood," Obama said.
He said Mandela had changed both laws and hearts, inspiring those around him by reconciling with the jailers who kept him prisoner for 27 years. In trusting others despite the injustices he suffered, Mandela showed that the cruelty of the past must be confronted with truth, generosity and inclusion, Obama said.
"We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again," Obama said. "But let me say to the people of Africa, and young people around the world: You can make his life's work your own."
Joining Obama on the 16-hour trip from Washington for the ceremony were first lady Michelle Obama, former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter also attended the memorial service.
SUMMARY: Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks join Judy Woodruff to discuss the week's top news, including the passing of Nelson Mandela and his impact on world history and American politics, plus a new pledge by President Obama to refocus on and address economic inequality in the United States.
JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): The death of Nelson Mandela resonated across South Africa and around the world today. Millions mourned the former president and symbol of racial reconciliation. And officials planned a mass memorial service on Tuesday.
We begin our coverage with Rohit Kachroo of Independent Television News, reporting from South Africa.
ROHIT KACHROO: This was a day to mourn one life lost and a day to mark the many lives made by Nelson Mandela. The gift of freedom is being celebrated here. And even those lost in the sadness of his death know how much bleaker things here might have been.
WOMAN: Now we are free because of Madiba. I'm very, very sorry here. But, today, I'm sad and I have got happiness. I don't know what can I say.
ROHIT KACHROO: From his home last night, his coffin was brought away draped in the rainbow colors. His pain is over. But the hurt is now all theirs.
Yet, for all the bleary eyes and broken hearts, this nation was not broken, as the old songs of the struggle from sung through the night. And the new day brought the start of South Africa's future.
SUMMARY: As the world mourns the loss of Nelson Mandela, Judy Woodruff talks to Lydia Polgreen, Johannesburg bureau chief for The New York Times, who called the former South African leader the "moral center" for the country. Polgreen said Mandela’s example may help the country struggle against current economic and societal challenges.
SUMMARY: The South Africa of Nelson Mandela's birth was a different nation from the one he leaves behind. Jeffrey Brown gets perspective on Mandela's impact from three South Africans: Penelope Andrews of the Albany Law School, Mzamo Mangaliso of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and Charles Villa-Vicencio at Georgetown University.
SUMMARY: Concerns persist over the deteriorating health of former South African President Nelson Mandela as President Barack Obama begins a visit there. Charlayne Hunter-Gault, special correspondent for NBC News, joins Jeffrey Brown to discuss the legendary leader's legacy in South Africa, and how democracy has shaped that nation.
GWEN IFILL (Newshour): We return now to South Africa, where double amputee Olympian Oscar Pistorius appeared in court today, and the family of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp gathered for her funeral.
We have this report narrated by Keme Nzerem of Independent Television News.
KEME NZEREM: His father, and as he listened to the charges against him that he shot his girlfriend dead in an act of premeditated murder, he sobbed.
Exactly what happened in his high-security gated home late on the night of St. Valentine last week? Did Oscar Pistorius kill his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp? Yes, his lawyer would concede. But he argued it was mistake. The explanation came by way of a prepared statement read to the court by his lawyer.
Pistorius claims the couple were deeply in love and went to sleep shortly after 10:00. He woke later to retrieve a fan from the balcony and heard what he thought was an intruder in the bathroom. The world's most famous disabled athlete walking around in the dead of night only on his stumps, it made him, he said, feel vulnerable. Allegedly, he had this gun by his bed.
In the dark, he picked it up and then this: "I felt a sense of terror rushing over me. Although I did not have my prosthetic legs on, I have mobility on my stumps. I fired shots at the toilet door and shouted to Reeva to call the police."
Only then, claims Pistorius, did it dawn on him that Reeva was no longer next to him in bed and the noise that had spooked him from the bathroom was her. He says he then put on his prosthetic legs, bashed down the door with a cricket bat to find her breathing her last.
"Reeva was slumped over, but alive. She died in my arms. I am absolutely mortified by the events and the devastating loss of my beloved Reeva."
Reeva Steenkamp, cremated this afternoon in a ceremony open only to close family and friends. It was desperately sad.
MAN: But we are here today as a family? (INAUDIBLE) Reeva.
MAN: It's OK.
MAN: We have got to get (INAUDIBLE)
KEME NZEREM: How on Earth to put into words the loss of a daughter, a niece, or a sister?
And the prosecution team boiling the case down to this. The couple, they claim, had an argument. For some reason Pistorius put on his legs, walked to the bathroom and shot through the door. Whether he thought it was actually his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, or indeed a burglar.
GERRIE NEL, Prosecutor: If I arm myself, walk a distance and murder a person, that is premeditated. The door is closed. There is no doubt. I walk seven meters and I kill. The motive is, I want to kill. That's it.
KEME NZEREM: The next stage of his bail hearing is tomorrow, but Pistorius was returned to the cells tonight knowing he may never taste freedom again.
SUMMARY: For more on the murder charges against Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius, Margaret Warner talks with Gary Alfonso of Feature Story News, who was in the courtroom and offers reactions from fellow South Africans.
