When Wednesday morning rolls around to South Africa, Oscar Pistorius wakes up in prison.  But perhaps not for too long.  A judge sentenced him to five years in the slam for the shooting death of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day of last year.

“A noncustodial sentence would send the wrong message to the community.  But a long sentence would also not be appropriate, because it would lack mercy,” said Judge Thokozile Masipa.

The judge – who had earlier rejected the prosecution’s case for murder in favor of the lesser charge of culpable homicide – spent an hour explaining her logic in balancing issues such as retribution, restorative justice, rehabilitation and the interest of society before announcing the sentence. 

“I heard witness after witness over-emphasizing the accused's vulnerability,” Masipa said of Pistorius, an Olympic and Paralympic athlete celebrated as the “Blade Runner” for fiercely competing on blade-shaped prosthetic legs.  “Yes, the accused is vulnerable, but he also has excellent coping skills.  He really saw himself as disabled (but) worked hard, and became respected worldwide.”

Although the sentence is for five years in prison, Pistorius has the right to petition for home detention after just ten months.  And his time in prison isn’t necessarily going to be “behind bars” – Pistorius is being held in a prison hospital because of his disability as a double amputee.

The reality in South Africa is that wealthy defendants are treated differently than the rest.  And despite apartheid being 20 years in the past, white people are still the wealthiest.  Pistorius spent at least US$375,000 on his defense, plus $600 monthly payments to Reeva Steenkamp’s parents in the 18 months since he killed the woman.