by Chinwe Okafor
Osar Pistorius’ older brother is facing a charge of reckless or negligent driving for a road accident last year in which he was seriously injured.
Carl Pistorius, 29, became recognisable around the world from his appearances in the Pretoria courtroom where his brother was jailed for killing model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year.
He even attended the trial in a wheelchair with his legs in splints – injuries sustained in the car crash which he is now being prosecuted for.
Pistorius was charged by a Limpopo province court, in the north of the country, because he did not submit a statement after the accident despite repeated requests from police.
He had been returning home from a business trip when he crashed – sustaining injuries — although no-one else was hurt.
Police spokesman Colonel Ronel Otto, who confirmed the charge, said: ‘Mr Pistorius did not want to submit his statement, he was charged mainly because of that.’
She added that he will be formally charged on Friday and will appear in a the Modimolle court, north of Johannesburg, at the end of February.
Pistorius was acquitted in 2013 on charges of culpable homicide or manslaughter over the death of a woman in a traffic incident in 2008.
South African prosecutors recently won their bid to appeal against the culpable homicide verdict handed down to his brother along with a five-year jail term last year.
They are seeking a murder conviction for the killing which shook the world on Valentine’s Day 2013.
Oscar Pistorius, formerly known as the ‘Bladerunner’ for his prosthetic legs, is said to have flown into a rage after learning that prosecutors had won their appeal – which opens the door for a stiffer 15-year prison sentence.
A fellow prisoner at the Kgosi Mampuru II jail in Pretoria said the double-amputee athlete ‘lost it’ after hearing the ruling on the radio.
The source said: ‘He got up and stomped. He went straight to the gym. He started lifting weights like it was going out of fashion. He is p***** off.’
Legal experts said it was unlikely that Pistorius would now be released on house arrest after serving just ten months of his sentence as he had previously hoped.
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