Oscar Pistorius: ANC women decry athlete's 'special treatment' South Africa's prison are notorious for overcrowding and violence and suspects awaiting trial often spend months and even years in custody. But authorities have rejected claims of special treatment, saying the double amputee athlete was being kept in police holding cells to allow him access to his legal team. There is no celebrity status (at play) here. It's not a common practice, but it is a decision of the court," spokesman for the prosecutions authority Medupi Simaku told SAPA news agency Pistorius has told the Pretoria Magistrates Court that he shot Miss Steenkamp, 29, in a horrible accident after he mistook her for an intruder. The state is arguing that the killing was premeditated.