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| Oscar Pistorius is due to be released later this week (AP images via The Mirror) |
Oscar Pistorius, a former Paralympic star and Olympic and Paralympic track star, will be released from prison on Friday after being granted parole nearly 11 years after killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Pistorius, known as the "Blade Runner" for his carbon-fibre prosthetic legs, became eligible for parole in March 2023 after serving half of his 13 years and five months sentence for murder. He was granted parole on November 24, to take effect on January 5.
South Africa's Department of Correctional Services (DCS) announced in November that Pistorius will complete the remainder of his sentence in the country's community corrections system. Under the DCS supervision, Pistorius will be subjected to parole conditions until his sentence expires in December 2029. As part of the conditions, Pistorius will have to attend gender-based violence programs and continue therapy sessions on anger management.
Pistorius participated in the restorative justice programme, a system introduced after the end of apartheid to deal with apartheid-era crimes in a more participative and reconciliatory way. The program is based partly on how indigenous cultures handled crime long before Europeans colonised South Africa, with the aim of bringing affected parties together to find closure.
Pistorius and the late Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, participated in the victim-offender dialogue on June 22, 2022. The Steenkamp family lawyer said they were not surprised by the parole decision, issued after Pistorius had completed a set portion of his sentence. Reeva Steenkamp's mother June released a statement saying she was not convinced Pistorius had been rehabilitated but had no objections to his release.
