A South African Magistrate has ruled that Oscar Pistorius will face a premeditated murder charge which means his bail application will be more difficult.

Magistrate Desmond Nair ruled that the Olympian's case is a schedule 6 offence but he has also indicated that could change depending on the evidence.

Prosecutors claim the athlete put on his prosthetic legs and walked seven metres before firing through a bathroom door and killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

Pistorius's family has insisted that the evidence will refute "any possibility of a premeditated murder or indeed any murder at all".

Defence lawyers are expected to argue that there are "exceptional circumstances" for 26-year-old Pistorius to be freed pending trial.

He has denied murdering his girlfriend, saying they were "deeply in love."

"We were deeply in love and couldn't be more happy" he said in an affidavit read out at a bail court hearing in Pretoria.

Kalay Maistry is a freelance reporter in Pretoria and explains what happened.