The family of star sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who is charged with murdering his girlfriend, yesterday rejected his father's assertion that South Africa's high crime rates necessitated gun ownership
The family was “deeply concerned” about the comments Henke Pistorius made to the British newspaper The Telegraph, the family's publicist said in a statement.
Henke Pistorius said his family’s 55 guns were for protection against the high crime levels against whites under the ANC government.
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Henke Pistorius attends Oscar’s bail hearing. PIC/AFP
But family spokesman Arnold Pistorius said that “the Pistorius family own weapons purely for sport and hunting purposes.”
“The comments doesn’t (sic) represent the views of Oscar or the rest of the Pistorius family,” he added.
Prosecutors have charged the Paralympic and Olympic athlete with the premeditated murder of Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day.
Pistorius denies this, saying he shot Steenkamp repeatedly having mistaken her for an intruder.
Police recovered a 9mm pistol at the scene of the shooting.
Several reports of the double amputee’s fascination with guns have emerged since his arrest.
Henke Pistorius’ interview had not been cleared with the family’s “media liaison team”, said Arnold Pistorius.
Meanwhile, the ruling African National Congress rejected Pistorius’ remarks “with contempt” and described them as “racist”.u00a0
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