The South African Supreme Court of Appeal is due to announce today whether it will replace Oscar Pistorius's conviction of culpable homicide with murder.
It is a manifestation not just of individual anguish but also of a collective failure: if society is too painful to live in, perhaps we are all culpable.
The family of Reeva Steenkamp shot dead by the South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has reacted angrily after he was founded guilty of culpable homicide but cleared of murder.