South African media protected Pistorius myth, some say

THE TRAGIC death of Reeva Steenkamp doesn't surprise one South African sports star who says Oscar Pistorius has long been a law unto himself.

THE TRAGIC shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp doesn't surprise some South Africans who say Oscar Pistorius has long been a law unto himself in his own country.

South African soccer star Marc Batchelor said that the Oscar Pistorius he knows always carries weapons on him and is an aggressive man with a short fuse.

The world-famous disabled athlete is currently facing murder charges over the death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp who police say was shot dead by the athlete in a case of premeditated murder. Pistorius claims he mistook his lover for an intruder and fatally shot her in a case of mistaken identity.

"It's like, well, you were waiting for something like this to happen you know," Batchelor told CNN, describing the moment when he heard of Steenkamp's death.

"He would have a trip switch and uh you know and he'd get violent and angry and fight with people and cause lots of problems," he told CNN.

Batchelor said he had a run-in with an aggressive Pistorius several years ago who mistakenly thought the soccer star was having an affair with his then girlfriend.

"And the incident with me and him was because he was drunk at a party and he started shouting and swearing on the phone," Batchelor adding that Pistorius confronted him.  Batchelor claimed that despite his own size advantage over the runner, Pistorius made it clear he wanted a fight.

"He said he's not scared.  If I want to come down there he knows where I am and blah, blah, blah.  But I left it, you know.  I said to him, you know, if you've got a problem then I'll see you when I see you and you know", Batchelor said.

Friend and boxer Kevin Lerena also said he witnessed Pistorius holding a gun at an outdoor cafe last January which then went off as he was showing it to a friend.

"That was a major mistake what happened, from Oscar's part it wasn't intentional and that also could have been a very bad event and something that could have been very tragic.  We were all very fortunate that day and after that event Oscar was very apologetic," Lerena said though the incident wasn't recorded by local police and another Pistorius friend says it was he not Oscar who bought the gun to the cafe that day.

Lerena said that while his mate could be "reckless", he'd never seen him act aggressively towards anyone.

South African sports journalist Graeme Joffe told CNN that though the blade runner was involved in many "well-documented"  incidents, few were reported as the local media sought to protect the.

"So many incidents that have happened - and they've been well documented- things that have happened over say the last five or six years with Oscar Pistorius and these kinds of cases have disappeared," Joffe told CNN whom he worked for in the 1990s.

"Here I think you had a troubled athlete- not so much, you had this incredible role model to the rest of the world, no questions about that- but deep down this was a troubled athlete."

CNN also said that the terms of Pistorius's bail have been considerably altered since his last court appearance and while the athlete was initially required to report regularly to police, they will now be visiting him from time to time at his uncle's house where he is currently living.

The revelations come just days after a remarkably public feud erupted within the Pistorius family as the runner and his relatives distanced themselves from comments his father reportedly made about guns and crime in South Africa.

The Pistorius family and the reputation management firm it has hired are working to head off any negative publicity or controversy that might possibly have a bearing on the outcome of the runner's case, which could see him jailed for life if convicted of premeditated murder.

The family's response to Henke Pistorius's comments was issued by the reputation management firm, Vuma, it has hired to deal with the media. The statement said "Henke's interview with the newspaper was unapproved by our media liaison team."

Media reports have said Pistorius and his father were estranged before Steenkamp's death. But the father was seen comforting the sprinter when he sobbed during his bail hearing.

- with wires