Pretoria – Disgraced former Olympic and Paralympic athlete star athlete Oscar Pistorius, now 36, will appear today before the medical parole board, sitting in Tshwane, as he seeks early release on parole.
Speaking to broadcaster Newzroom Afrika, attorney Ulrich Roux said the function of the parole board will be to determine if Pistorius has been rehabilitated, whether he genuinely shows remorse for his actions, and he can be re-integrated back into society.
“The function of the parole board now is to determine whether those seven and a half years have rehabilitated him, whether he genuinely shows remorse for his actions and whether he can be re-integrated back into society,” Roux said.
He said the parole hearings are conducted by experienced and senior members in the Department of Correctional Services as well as experts including psychologists and psychiatrists.
Reeva’s mother, June Steenkamp is scheduled to attend and take part during the parole hearings in Tshwane, which will be closed to the media. According to reports, Reeva’s father Barry will not attend due to ill health.
Roux said however, the parents would already have their sentiments known through the victim impact statement “where they set out killing of Reeva Steenkamp has affected them, affected their livelihoods, affected their lives and those are big considerations”.
Another attorney, Harry Thobejane told Newzroom Africa that the parole hearing will not be a stroll in the park for Pistorius.
“You would find that emotions are always high, in the sense that we look into two parties. People do not cope, they collapse during the hearing, some even seek medical attention due to the fact that the environment itself is quite heavy on them,” Thobejane said.
February marked a decade after the gruesome murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his Pretoria East mansion, Pistorius faces a mammoth task of convincing the parole board to allow him to complete his sentence at his uncle’s plush home in Tshwane.
The Steenkamp’s are opposed to Pistorius being released on parole, and have been supported by several organisations including Women For Change.
“While a prisoner is eligible for parole after having served half of their sentence, Women for Change wholeheartedly opposes the parole application of Oscar Pistorius,” the group said.
“We support Reeva Steenkamp’s parents, June and Barry Steenkamp, and maintain that Oscar Pistorius should serve the full sentence of 13 years for the brutal murder of Reeva.”
Pistorius, affectionately known as the “Blade Runner” at the peak of his global career, was found guilty of killing Reeva, after shooting her multiple times through the bathroom door in his home on February 14, 2013.
During the lengthy, high-profile trial which saw media organisations from all walks of life descend on Pretoria, the double-amputee Olympic sprinter was insisted throughout the trial that he thought she was an intruder in his home.
Initially, he was found guilty of manslaughter in 2014 and sentenced to six years, but the conviction was later changed to murder, with a 13-year prison term.
Last year, Barry Steenkamp met Pistorius as part of the Department of Correctional Service’s victim-offender dialogue, before the parole board hearing.
The programme seeks to provide closure for a victim’s family, and an opportunity for the perpetrator to seek forgiveness, and show remorse.
In 2021, Independent Media reported that Pistorius had been moved to a prison in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, with the purpose of meeting the Steenkamps, before Pistorius’s forthcoming parole hearing.
In an interview with “Good Morning Britain” in 2021, the parents of Reeva said they wanted the clear truth about what really happened the night Reeva was killed. They said Pistorius must pay for what he did.
The Steenkamps revealed their loss became harder as time passed.
IOL