The six-year jail sentence imposed on Oscar Pistorius for murdering Reeva Steenkamp was an insult and an embarrassment, the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) said on Wednesday.

“It’s an embarrassment to the justice system of this country,” the league’s Jacqui Mofokeng said shortly after Pistorius was led away from his crying sister Aimee and other relatives, down to the holding cells below the High Court in Pretoria.

"It's a total insult to women," other ANCWL members who were in court said.

Before she adjourned, Judge Thokozile Masipa said she would be in her chambers to deal with any applications for leave to appeal. It was not yet clear if either the defence or State intended talking to her about this.

The Steenkamp family left courtroom GD through a side entrance without showing any emotion.

Pistorius’s lawyer Barry Roux walked up to Reeva’s father Barry, smiled and shook his hand.

Pistorius’s uncle Arnold smiled and gave a thumbs-up to a journalist who called out his name from the public gallery. He kept walking and said nothing.