Pistorius released to family home
It has been almost 11 years since the paralympian shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp.
Oscar Pistorius (37), who was found guilty of culpable homicide and reckless endangerment in September 2014, has been released on parole.
Pistorius was granted parole by the parole board on November 24, 2023.
He reportedly will be staying with his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, at their home in Waterkloof.
Pistorius fired four shots through the bathroom door of his Pretoria east home in Silver Lakes, killing his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013.
He pled not guilty to the charges, denying that he killed Steenkamp in rage, but claimed that he mistook her for an intruder.
Details of Pistorius’ release from Atteridgeville Prison were not made public, however, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said in a statement that he would not be treated differently from the other inmates.
“The general parole conditions will apply to Pistorius,” spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said in the statement.
These conditions include that Pistorius must be home at particular hours of the day and may not consume alcohol and other prohibited substances.
Pistorius will also participate in other programmes, such as therapy for his anger issues.
“Just like other parolees, Pistorius is restricted from conducting media interviews,” said Nxumalo.
“South Africa opted for a victim-centred criminal justice system. As a result, inmates and parolees are never paraded.
“Newly placed parolees may be vulnerable and do require a support system to adjust to the normal way of living. The caregiver (family) is responsible for such support, working together with DCS monitoring officials.”
Pistorius spent a total of eight years behind bars for the 2013 murder of Steenkamp.
His parole will run until 2029.
Pistorius’ previous parole application
In March 2023, the department said that Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period when he previously faced the parole board.
“The correctional supervision and parole board granted inmate Pistorius a further profile for August 2024. The reason provided is that the inmate did not complete the minimum detention period as ruled by the Supreme Court of Appeal (as per the clarification provided on March 28),” said the department.
Steenkamp’s mother, June, said the family was opposing the March parole as they felt he had not been truthful in his account of the evening when he killed their daughter.
“We don’t believe his story,” she said as she arrived at the hearing at the correctional services facility in Atteridgeville.
On September 12, 2014, Pistorius was handed a prison sentence of five years, with a concurrent three-year suspended sentence for the reckless endangerment charge.
He remained in prison only until October 2015, when he was released on house arrest, based on good behaviour.
Soon after the original ruling, prosecutors appealed the ruling. By unanimous decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal in front of five Supreme Court judges, the culpable homicide ruling was overturned and he was found guilty of murder on November 3, 2015.
Pistorius was jailed once again in July 2016.
In November 2017, his six-year jail sentence was extended to 15 years after the National Prosecuting Authority said that the previous ruling was “shockingly lenient”.
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