Prosecutors have called for the police officer leading the Oscar Pistorius investigation to be dropped from the case after it emerged he is facing attempted murder charges.
Hilton Botha and two other officers is alleged to have opened fire on seven passengers in a taxi mini-bus in an attempt to stop it. It is claimed that the officers, who were on duty at the time, were drunk.
They were arrested after the event in October 2011 and charges were initially dropped but were reinstated by the state prosecutor in the days before the shooting of Reeva Steenkamp.
Prosecutors have now said that he should no longer be allowed to carry on investigating the case against the Olympian.
Oscar Pistorius arrives at court for the third day of his bail hearing Speaking outside the court in Pretoria on the third day of Pistorius' baily hearing, Bulewa Makeke, spokeswoman for the National Prosecuting Authority, said: "Is he going to be dropped from the case? I don't know. I think the right thing would be for him to be dropped.
"Obviously there will be consultations between the two (police and prosecutors) to determine what is the best course of action."
The South African Police Service has confirmed the charges against the detective and launched an investigation which may see Botha suspended.
Neville Malila said they had bolstered the investigation team Spokesman Neville Malila said: "We were only informed yesterday that attempted murders charges against Hilton Botha have been reinstated."
He said that Botha remained on the Pistorius case and that the charges would not hamper the investigation into the circumstances of the Valentine's Day shooting at Pistorius' Silver Lakes home.
But he added that they had bolstered the team investigating the alleged murder of Miss Steenkamp.
Botha was summoned to the courtroom at the beginning of the third day of Pistorius' bail hearing, however, he was only asked to clarify why there had been delays in getting the mobile phone records of Pistorius and Miss Steenkamp in the hours surrounding the shooting incident.
Hilton Botha arrives at court to give evidence at Pistorius' bail hearing The police only discovered the charges against Botha had been reinstated yesterday, although the decision was made before Miss Steenkamp's death. He is to appear in court in May.
Prosecutors admitted that the timing of the attempted murder charges had been "totally weird".
It is unclear why the charges against Botha were reinstated. He denies being drunk and has told a South African news channel that he was chasing suspects.
Oscar Pistorius is due to find out whether he will be granted bail Under cross-examination during Pistorius' bail hearing, Botha was accused of contaminating the crime scene in the Paralympic star's home and backtracked on key details, including the distance of witnesses from the house.
In his often confused testimony, Botha, who was described as a 24-year police veteran with 16 years as a detective, conceded that police had left a 9 mm slug from the shots that killed Miss Steenkamp inside a toilet at the scene.
Police also lost track of illegal ammunition found inside the house, Botha said, and the detective himself walked through the crime scene without wearing protective shoe covers, potentially contaminating the area.
He also claimed in court that police found boxes of testosterone and needles in multiple Paralympic champion Pistorius' bedroom following the Valentine's Day shooting last week, but then said later he wasn't sure what the exact name of the substance was.
The lead defence counsel Barry Roux accused the police of oversights and mistakes on their initial investigation.
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