Last-minute talks in court before trial starts
At least 13 lawyers had last-minute snatches of conversation ahead of the start of Oscar Pistorius's murder trial in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
With Pistorius leaning over the dock to speak to his own counsel Barry Roux, Roux's robed adversary prosecutor Gerrie Nel peered over his spectacles at the other side of the courtroom, waiting for Judge Thokozile Masipa to set proceedings in motion.
Pistorius is charged with murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria on Valentine's Day last year and contravening the Firearms Control Act.
He has said he thought she was an intruder when he shot her through a closed toilet door.
Steenkamp's mother June, behind him to his right, occasionally glanced over at him.
His own family filled the left of the front bench, also only speaking occasionally.
- Sapa