In a court order – issued on Wednesday by the SCA – the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is ordered to present their application in court and to file five additional copies of the application within one month of the date of the order – 2 November 2016. 

Judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp on July 6. 

The state then said in a statement that after careful consideration a decision was taken to file an application for leave to appeal. It said the sentence imposed on Pistorius is disproportionate to the crime and “shockingly too lenient”. 

The NPA also said it hopes that an appeal will further clarify the principles around sentencing, particularly in crimes where there are prescribed minimum sentences.

In October 2014 Masipa sentenced Pistorius to five years behind bars for culpable homicide.

On December 3 last year the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that it agreed with the State. It overturned Masipa's verdict and changed it to murder.

In the early hours of February 14, 2013, Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through the locked door of the toilet in his Silver Woods Country Estate home.

He claimed he thought there was an intruder behind the door about to emerge and harm him and that Reeva was still in bed.

OFM News