Photo: Time

The Oscar Pistorius Trial still continues to hog attention despite the fact that South Africa has been through a torrid election period. On Monday, the trial of the paralympian entered its thirtieth day in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, with the defence calling as its witness Meryll Voster, who is a forensic psychiatrist.

She testified that Oscar suffered from what she termed general anxiety disorder, a condition which has been diagnosed as a mental illness and which made the sufferer to react to particular situations in ways that would not normally be expected of that situation had they been normal beings.

Responding to questions from the prosecutor Gerrie Nel, Dr Voster agreed that this condition would make him a dangerous person and also a danger to society. She further agreed to the fact that the athlete was able to distinguish between right and wrong, adding that the condition would affect the way he reacted if he perceived it as a threatening situation.

When asked by Nel if Oscar had mentioned killing Reeva Steenkamp, the witness said she did not recall him saying that. She said that Oscar was aware that the bullets he had fired would had led to the death of his model girlfriend. She retorted that his reaction to the death was appropriate.

Oscar Pistorius stands accused of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, whom he has admitted to shooting but argues that he mistook her for an intruder. The prosecution, led by veteran lawyer Gerrie Nel, contends that Pistorius shot Steenkamp after they had had a heated argument and she ran and hid in the bathroom. Oscar opened fire through the door, fatally wounding her. In addition to the murder charge, Oscar is also being charged with three counts of contravening the Firearms Control Act. He has however disputed these charges. The trial continues on Tuesday.