Her uncle Michael Steenkamp, who broke down while speaking about his niece, recalled how she wanted to be an activist who spoke up for women's rights and advocated against violence.

He said he hoped her death might make a difference. "By her passing away, it actually can make a change in the lives of many people," he said. "She was an angel," added Gavin Venter, an ex-jockey who worked with her race horse trainer father. Venter said there had been no indication that the glamorous young woman was having relationship problems. "I asked her father, her father said no, she was very happy with Oscar, there was no problems, but maybe she was just hiding it away," he told journalists. Venter said he thought the star athlete should be denied bail. "I'm disgusted and he must be dealt with harshly," he told reporters. "He's a danger to the public. He'll be a danger to witnesses, he must stay in jail, they mustn't release him." Pistorius himself broke down in court as the prosecution accused him of premeditated murder. One of Steenkamp's former classmates at a local private Catholic school, Bongiwe Gaxambaa, said she would remember her school friend's smile, the way she got along with people, and her love and warmth for others. Steenkamp's murder was hard to come to terms with, she added. "It's kind of only sinking in now that I'm actually here, that she's really gone." Also among the mourners were nuns from her old school, a well-known DJ who hosted a reality show that Steenkamp appeared on and the Springbok rugby player Francois Hougaard. (AFP) CM PM 02191907 NNNN