Carl Pistorius pleads not guilty at homicide trial in South Africa

The brother of Oscar Pistorius, the South African sprint star accused of murder, has pleaded not guilty at his trial over a deadly road crash five years ago.

Carl Pistorius, 28, was charged with culpable homicide and reckless driving after a 2008 collision near Johannesburg in which a 36-year-old woman was killed. 

"I plead not guilty," Pistorius told the court in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Carl Pistorius was driving in Vanderbijlpark in March 2008 when he collided with Marietjie Barnard, who later died in hospital, the Associated Press reported.

While the culpable homicide charge against Pistorius had been dropped, it was reinstated after new forensic evidence emerged, the AP quotes prosecutors as saying. 

News24.com quoted a witness, Anton Coetzee, as saying:

"The motorbike was very close to the back of the bakkie when the bakkie suddenly swerved to the right. The motorbike hit the right back of the bakkie. It looked like the bakkie swerved out of the way for something. I had to brake to avoid the accident."

South Africans use the word "bakkie" for a small pick-up truck or van.

The Pistorius family has said that Pistorius deeply regretted the incident which it described as a "tragic accident."

Meanwhile, Oscar Pistorius — known as the Blade Runner — won the right to retain his passport and travel after the stringent bail conditions imposed on him after the Valentine's Day killing of his model girlfriend were reconsidered on Thursday.