Oscar Pistorius was the perfect South African sports hero because victory over his disability made him a universally admired figure in a still-divided society. The profoundly macho culture he grew up in spans racial groups and provides some explanation for the country's shocking rates of domestic violence.
"Black South African men are expected to prove their manliness by carrying knives and having lots of girlfriends," said Rachel Jewkes of the South African Medical Research Council (MRC). "White Afrikaners like Pistorius do not need to have several girlfriends. But his love of guns speaks to the same hunger to prove his masculinity in the South African context."
The full facts about the death of model Reeva Steenkamp have yet to emerge, but to South Africans her death came on the eve of the Black Friday Campaign for Rape Awareness in honor of Anene Booysen. The 17-year-old died after her ex-boyfriend and others allegedly gang-raped and disemboweled her on Feb. 2.