South Africans cautioned about online comments on Oscar Pistorius

01 Feb 2016 | Admin Author

South Africans need to exercise caution when commenting on the Oscar Pistorius murder case on public forums such as Facebook and Twitter.

The warning's come from the head of the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee, William Booth, who says while everyone is entitled to their own opinion, they should be careful they don't make defamatory statements.

Local and international comments have been streaming in on websites and in media reports, following the news that Pistorius killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria home last week.

Booth has urged people to be cautious saying there are legal repercussions such as being sued for defamation.

"I can understand there's people expressing horror at what happened there are also people supporting Mr. Pistorius and saying he should be released on bail, but everything I say and feel should be said done in a proper and objective manner and not that one gets carried away and says things one might regret later. Too much is being said which may have no factual basis" Booth said.