The mother of REEVA STEENKAMP, who was murdered by OSCAR PISTORIOUS a decade ago, JUNE STEENKAMP on Friday said the South African Paralympic champion has “not been rehabilitated”.
JUNE STEENKAMP in a statement to a parole board which is reviewing PISTORIUS’ for an early release from Prison said Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly, with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof.
South African Paralympic champion OSCAR PISTORIUS was Friday seeking an early release from prison, a decade after he killed his girlfriend in a crime that gripped the world.
PISTORIUS, 37, is appearing before a parole board at a correctional centre outside Pretoria where he is currently detained.
The Department of Correctional Services said the board is reviewing the ex-athlete’s profile to decide whether he is suitable for social reintegration.
Correctional Services Spokesman , SINGABAKHO NXUMALO said he is not sure whether the inmate, if successful, is going home today or there will be other terms like he has to go through other programmes.
It is PISTORIUS’ second shot at parole in less than eight months.
He lost a first bid in March when the board found Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out.
The Constitutional Court last month ruled that was a mistake, paving the way for a new hearing.
PISTORIUS killed REEVA STEENKAMP, a model, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.
Known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, he was found guilty of murder and given a 13-year jail sentence in 2017 after a lengthy trial and several appeals.
He had pleaded not guilty and denied killing STEENKAMP in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.
As part of his rehabilitation, PISTORIUS met STEENKAMP’s parents last year, in a process authorities said aims to ensure inmates acknowledge the harm they have caused.
But in March, STEENKAMP’S parents opposed an early release, saying they did not believe the former sprinter told the truth about what happened and had not shown remorse.
STEENKAMP’S father BARRY died in September aged 80.
JUNE STEENKAMP was not present at the parole hearing. She is being represented by a family spokesman and a lawyer, who will read a victim impact statement on her behalf.
The spokesman, ROB MATHEWS, is the father of a university student murdered in 2004, who became friends with the STEENKAMPS as the two families went through parallel parole proceedings for the killers of their daughters.