South African prosecution says Pistorius must go to court ahead of sentencing

The National Prosecuting Authority has issued the warrant, eNCA television report, but will not enforce it until next week.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned Pistorius’s conviction of culpable homicide, and replaced it with one of murder.

Oscar Pistorius, Olympic athlete, has been on house arrest since spending a year of a five-year sentence in jail.

The Paralympian was originally convicted of culpable homicide – similar to manslaughter – after a trial.

The sprinter was not in the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear the decision of a five-member strong panel of judges overturn his manslaughter charge who instead imposed the murder conviction.

“The accused ought to have been found guilty of murder on the basis that he had fired the fatal shots with criminal intent”, Leach said.

The SCA’s ruling comes nearly three years after Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp, later claiming he mistook her for an intruder.

Pistorius’ family spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess said that the family would wait for lawyer’s advice and take action accordingly.

Mr. Mosetihe said some sections of the public felt that “the first judgment was not justified” and that Oscar was initially supposed to have been convicted for murder.

State prosecutors said they will study the decision before deciding whether to seek imprisonment for Pistorius while he awaits sentencing.

Reeva Steenkamp’s mother, June, sat quietly in the courtroom during the announcement, which was carried on TV.

“We’ve got justice, we’ve got respect for Reeva, we’ve got respect for women”, Ms Steenkamp said.

Earlier in October, Pistorius was released on parole and put under house arrest at his uncle’s house after serving nearly a year in prison. The fact that Pistorius armed himself with a high-calibre weapon and shot into a small toilet cubicle showed he must have foreseen that the person might die.

The runner’s sentencing for his recent murder conviction is expected to arrive not this year but next, in 2016.