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Mixed Reaction In South Africa After Former Paralympian Oscar Pistorius Walks Home On Parole
By Nomazulu Moyo and The Irish Times
PRETORIA: Oscar Pistorius, the former Paralympic champion who shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, has been released from prison after serving five years of his 13-year sentence – leaving many in South Africa with mixed feelings from the gruesome killing 11 years ago.
Pistorius, who was convicted of murder in 2016 after a lengthy legal battle, was granted parole on humanitarian grounds, according to his lawyer.
He will now serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest and strict supervision. Pistorius, who became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics in 2012, maintained that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a locked bathroom door at his home in Pretoria.
However, the prosecution argued that he deliberately killed her after an argument. The case sparked a global debate on domestic violence, gun control, and disability rights.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo further confirmed that Oscar Pistorius is now a parolee – effectively January 5. He was admitted into the system of Community Corrections and is now at home – 11 years after murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in a crime that shocked a nation inured to violence against women.
Pistorius – dubbed “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs – shot 29-year-old model Ms Steenkamp dead through a locked bathroom door on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
The double amputee said he mistook Ms Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots into the bathroom at his Pretoria home, and he launched multiple appeals against his conviction on that basis.
In a statement shared by the Steenkamp family lawyer on Friday, Reeva’s mother June said: “There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back.”
“We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence,” June Steenkamp said, adding her only desire was to be allowed to live in peace after Pistorius’ release on parole.
Pistorius, now 37, spent about 8½ years in jail as well as seven months under home arrest before he was sentenced for murder. A parole board in November decided he could be freed after completing more than half his sentence.
South Africa’s correctional services department said in a short statement that Pistorius had become a “parolee, effectively from January 5th 2024″ and was now at home, without specifying where that was.
A monitoring official is to keep him under observation until his sentence expires in December 2029, whom Pistorius will have to inform if he seeks job opportunities or moves to a new address.
Pistorius will also be required to continue therapy on anger management and attend sessions on gender-based violence as part of his parole conditions, the Steenkamp family has said.
June Steenkamp said the conditions imposed by the parole board had affirmed her belief in the South African justice system as they send out a clear message that gender-based violence is taken seriously.
But a local women’s rights organisation said the day before Pistorius’s release that he should serve his full sentence in prison.
“We believe that granting parole to someone convicted of killing another person sends a concerning message about accountability and justice in our country,” Women for Change said in a post on X.
A lawyer for Pistorius did not immediately respond to messages or phone calls seeking comment on Friday.
Local media expect Pistorius to live at the home of his uncle Arnold in a wealthy Pretoria suburb, but there was little activity outside Arnold Pistorius’s house on Friday.
While some South Africans see Pistorius’s punishment as too lenient, others feel he has served his time. “He paid his price. Let him rebuild his life,” a local resident told reporters gathered outside his uncle’s home.
Pistorius was once the darling of the sports world, and a pioneering voice for disabled athletes, for whom he campaigned to be allowed to compete with able-bodied participants at major sports events.
In August 2012, months before shooting his girlfriend, Pistorius became the first double amputee to compete at the London Olympics, where he made it to the 400m semi-finals.
He won two gold medals at the Paralympics. – Additional reporting: The Irish Times
