– Long legal battle –
Legal papers filed at the Constitutional Court by Pistorius’s lawyers contended that the SCA had “acted unlawfully and unconstitutionally”.
They also accused the SCA of making “errors of law” over the principle of “dolus eventualis” – awareness of the likely outcome of an action – which has been at the crux of the long-running case.
But most experts had dismissed his chances of success in the Constitutional Court.
“The court has exercised its power not hear this matter – that means that they considered it to have no merit,” Stephen Tuson, criminal and constitutional professor at Wits University in Johannesburg, told AFP.
“The trial court now will take into account his personal circumstances and decide on a suitable sentence.”
Pistorius was last seen in public at a bail hearing in December, after which he was fitted with an electronic monitoring tag.
Under his bail conditions, he has been allowed to leave his uncle’s house at set times with official permission, but not travel further than 20 kilometres (12 miles).
Pistorius denied killing Steenkamp in a rage and, during his trial, sobbed in the dock as details of his lover’s death were examined in excruciating detail.
“I was overcome with fear,” he told his trial. “Before I knew it, I’d fired four shots at the door.”
He has since lost his glittering sports career, lucrative contracts and status as a global role model for the disabled.
Steenkamp’s family was not immediately available to comment.
They previously welcomed his murder conviction and described his Constitutional Court appeal as a “delaying tactic” to keep him out of jail.
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