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 The decision could leave Pistorius open to a prison sentence of
at least 15 years if he is convicted of murder.
"I cannot say the prospect of success at the Supreme Court is
remote," Judge Thokozile Masipa said in granting the appeal.
The Olympic and Paralympic track star, aged 28, is currently serving
prison time after being convicted in October of culpable homicide
after a seven-month trial.
He has admitted killing Steenkamp on Feb.14, 2013, by firing four
shots into the locked door of a toilet cubicle in what he said was
the mistaken belief an intruder was hiding behind it.
Masipa said during sentencing that the state failed to convince her
of Pistorius' intent to kill when he fired.
But state prosecutor Gerrie Nel said in his application to appeal
that the judgment was "shockingly inappropriate" and argued that
even if Pistorius did not know Steenkamp was behind the door when he
fired, he showed intent to kill whoever was there.
In granting the application, Masipa said the prosecution's points
were questions of law and should therefore go to the Supreme Court
of Appeal for consideration.
South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) welcomed the
decision.
"Our argument was that he should have been convicted of murder. That
is, of course, what we would like to happen," NPA spokesman Nathi
Mncube said.
The NPA was criticized over the original conviction against
Pistorius and faced further disdain this week for bungling the
murder case against British national Shrien Dewani, who was cleared
on Monday of conspiring to kill his wife during their honeymoon in
Cape Town.
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The matter that will be heard next year will evaluate if Masipa's
ruling based on the legal principle of 'dolus eventualis' was
correctly applied and if prosecutors succeed, they can demand a
stiffer sentence.
Masipa's original decision to rule out murder was criticized by
several legal experts and the Women's League of the ruling African
National Congress (ANC) as an erroneous interpretation of the law.
By the time the appeal is heard before a panel of South Africa's
most senior judges, Pistorius, who did not attend the appeal
process, could be out of prison as his five-year sentence only
requires that he serves 10 months behind bars and the balance under
house arrest.
Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated as a baby, became one of
the world's most celebrated athletes after he became a Paralympic
champion then took part in the 2012 Olympics and other international
events.
The killing of Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, led
to one of the most sensational trials in South Africa's recent
history and cost him his reputation and his fortune.
(Reporting by Peroshni Govender, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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