Oscar Pistorius
When he had not been charged and convicted of murder, Oscar Pistorius was the poster child of the movement to empower the disabled. Nicknamed the Blade Runner, he was the first runner to compete in both the Paralympics and the Olympics.
Pistorius’ story as a man on prosthetic legs competing able-bodied men was sure to get everyone interested. He was the easier man to support when he queued up with the others at the starting line.
All of this meant that he was a South African darling, with many black people willing to overlook the horrors of the past to support a disabled white man.
