Is Oscar’s Pistorius’s time in prison coming to an end?
Correctional Services says parole is not guaranteed, adding that it is a privilege that must be earned.
Oscar Pistorius cries while seated in the dock during the verdict in his murder trial in Pretoria, 11 September 2014. Picture: Kim Ludbrook/EPA/Pool
Days before the eighth anniversary of the death of model Reeva Steenkamp, rumours have surfaced that her killer and ex-boyfriend Oscar Pistorius’s days are numbered behind bars.
Reports have been making the rounds that the convicted former Paralympic athlete has two years left to serve before he is eligible for parole.
It was reported over the weekend that Pistorius would be eligible for parole in March 2023, after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) failed to account for “time served” when Pistorius had his charge upgraded from culpable homicide to murder in 2017. It did not consider that Pistorius had already served more than 500 days behind bars.
If true, Pistorius could be released 10 years after the Valentine’s Day 2013 murder, when Steenkamp was shot and killed through the door of a locked bathroom cubicle inside Pistorius’s Tshwane home.
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Pistorius claimed he had mistaken his girlfriend for a burglar. In 2016, Pistorius was initially sentenced to six years in prison for culpable homicide.
Later, the charge was changed to murder and an additional 13 years was added to his sentence, following an appeal by the state for a longer prison sentence.
Singabakho Nxumalo, spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, said there was no set parole consideration date for Pistorius.
“At no point, will the Department of Correctional Services issue nor confirm a parole consideration date and month for an inmate as there are certain processes that must be followed,” Nxumalo said.
“All inmates in South Africa become eligible for parole consideration after serving the minimum required time. This does not guarantee parole placement but a privilege that must be earned following our prescripts and ultimately, the inmate’s readiness for social reintegration.”
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