More than Oscar: the real issues of violence in South Africa

In the wake of the tragedy, Caitlin Edwards slams the media coverage and reaction which has ignored the real issues of violence in South Africa.

Reeva Steenkamp was tragically killed, intentionally or not, by her boyfriend, a man she loved and trusted, on Valentine’s Day. Oscar Pistorius allegedly shot Reeva four times through the door of the bathroom. A week before police had been called to the house regarding “allegations of a domestic nature”. Reeva Steenkamp was a law graduate, a campaigner for an end to violence against women and had a promising career as a professional model.

Henke Pistorius, father of
South
African paralympic and Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius reached out to touch his son at the Pretoria magistrates
court. Picture credits: AJstream

This is how headlines and news articles should have read on the 14 February when this tragedy occurred. They should have been respectful, understanding of the sensitive nature of the tragedy and objective, looking at the facts without preconceived ideas of the people involved. But this is not what happened. The Sun ran a truly abhorrent front page with the title “Blade Runner ‘Murders Lover’ on Valentine’s Day”, accompanied by a full page picture of Reeva Steenkamp in a bikini. They also neglected to run page three that day, as apparently the sexualised image of a murder victim is an appropriate substitute for the soft porn image they usually let their readers get off on. The Sun’s front page was shocking enough to merit widespread criticism and an online petition for an apology to be issued but they weren’t the only paper to get their coverage so wrong.

The Daily Mail thought it appropriate to run an article on Oscar Pistorius’ “complicated love life” on the 14 February, the  day Steenkamp was killed. A New York Times article on the 14 February began with the words “she was a platinum-haired model on the cusp of the big time… he was a global sports hero”, as though her hair colour detracted from her murder. They also decided to run a homage to him entitled “The Adrenaline-Fuelled Life of Oscar Pistorious”, again on the 14 February, the very day of Steenkamp’s death. In this was written that Pistorious was “not as cautious as he always should be… but I didn’t see anger in him”. The Independent went with the same angle, publishing articles including “Oscar Pistorious: The Boy Who Fought the Odds to Inspire Millions” on the 15 February and “Shock for Oscar’s friends in London after Reeva Steenkamp is found dead” on the 14 February. If one didn’t know better it would appear through these articles that Oscar, not Reeva, was the victim here.

It is not clear if Pistorious is innocent or guilty of premeditated murder, and one must presume innocent until his full court hearing in July. However, the news coverage of this crime reveals deep rooted prejudices about domestic violence, widespread sexism in the media and harmful macho ideals of male athletes. Indeed the only story the press seem to have not told fully is that of domestic violence. Many of the papers, after reporting that Pistorious claimed to have mistaken Reeva for a burglar, commented on the wider issue of intruders in gated communities and how many house owners in South Africa had guns in their homes for protection. Few, if any, mentioned the widespread issue of domestic violence in South Africa. Many neglected to mention that a week before Reeva’s death police had been called to the house for “allegations of a domestic nature” or that Pistorious had been in previous allegedly violent relationships. None of this makes Pistorious guilty but surely seems more important than the fact that Reeva had once modelled for FHM?

Gun crime is the real issue at the heart of this case. Picture credits: barrio_media

South Africa has some of the worst rates of domestic violence in the world. Every 17 seconds a woman is raped in South Africa and of those rapes reported only 14 per cent end in a conviction. In a country of 50 million people, three women are killed a day by their partners. Women in abusive relationships are seven times more likely to be killed by their partner if their partner owns or has access to a gun and gun ownership is rife in South Africa. The message which should be coming out of this tragedy is not one of a fallen sport hero but one which highlights to the world an issue which is all too often swept under the carpet; that violence against women is a global epidemic, which transcends the boundaries of wealth, class, location or fame. It was an issue which Reeva Steenkamp would have wanted to promote herself.

Shortly before her death there was another murder in South Africa where Anene Booysen was gang raped and killed. Reeva sent out an instragram message which now reads with bitter irony “I woke up in a happy safe home this morning. Not everyone did. Speak out against the rape of individuals in SA. RIP Anene Booysen”. Reeva Steenkamp’s death was a tragedy; her tragedy. The press should have reflected that.