'Oscar did not try to commit suicide'

Pistorius was admitted to Pretoria's Kalafong Hospital under tight security on Saturday with injuries that some reports suggested were self-inflicted.

While Arnold Pistorius had not seen his nephew, he said: "[Oscar] has joked [to people who visited him] about slipping on his stumps while trying to hold onto a little cupboard in his cell."

He insisted that Oscar had not slashed his wrists.

"He is trying to make the most out of a very bad situation. These allegations are so far from the truth that I don't even want to talk about it."

City Press reported that Oscar had sustained injuries and when two warders searched his cell they found blades. Downplaying his nephew's injuries, Pistorius joked that they were not as bad as the Lions' defeat by the Hurricanes in the Super rugby final on Saturday.

"He's got very light scrapes, scratches and bruises. There are no plasters or bands [on him]."

He said the team that saw Oscar reported that "he's still the same old Oscar and he's just trying to make the best out of a really bad situation".

He refused to comment on his nephew's emotional and mental state, saying: "It is what you think it is; jail is not a nice place."