S Africa's Pistorius 'certainly not suicidal': uncle

LONDON / JOHANNESBURG - Agence France-Presse

In this photo taken Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2013 Olympian Oscar Pistorius stands following his bail hearing, as his brother Carl, center, and father Henke look on, in Pretoria, South Africa. AP Photo/Masi Losi/Pretoria News

Paralympic sprint champion Oscar Pistorius is in deep mourning after killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, but is "certainly not suicidal" his uncle said Monday.

"Oscar, broken as he currently is, believes he has a purpose in life and is working towards that. Media reports to the contrary are untrue," said .

Pistorius 'on verge of suicide', says close friend

Oscar Pistorius is a broken man "on the verge of suicide" as he fights a charge of premeditated murder, a friend of the Paralympic star has said.

Pistorius stands accused of murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day, in a case that rocked the nation.

The 26-year-old South African, who has won six gold medals at the Paralympics, claims he shot her through a bathroom door thinking she was an intruder.

Speaking in the upcoming BBC3 documentary "Oscar Pistorius: What Really Happened?", close friend Mike Azzie said the star was "a broken man" since the incident, and his state of mind has worsened since he was tasked with selling his racehorses to raise money to pay for his spiralling legal fees.

Azzie also said Pistorius, who is out on bail, regularly talks about Steenkamp as he awaits his next court appearance on June 4.

"He just always seems to mention Reeva and to ask us to pray for her and her family," Azzie said.

"But most of all, you've got to understand that we are there for him and we will always be his friend.

"He has no confidence in his tone of voice and he is just a man that is almost like someone that is walking around in circles and doesn't know where he is going.

"I would say that, just speaking to him, that he is a broken man and that I would go as far to say that he would be on the verge of suicide. It really worries me." According to the documentary makers, Mentorn Media, police in Johannesburg said they have requested all records of phone calls and messages exchanged between Pistorius and Steenkamp on the day she was killed.