NATIONAL NEWS - World-famous Paralympian and double amputee Oscar Pistorius has been released on parole on Friday after serving almost a decade behind bars for the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.

Pistorius has swapped his adapted cell in the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre for his very own “Oscar cottage” on the sprawling estate of his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, in the upmarket Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof.

The property tycoon and his wife, Lios, raised Pistorius, his sister and brother, Carl, from their teenage years after the death of their mother when the sporting icon was 15.

The Pistorius family’s diverse business interests reportedly also include mining and tourism.

According to The Mirror, Pistorius’s uncle bought the house in 1992 from a former Dutch Reformed Church and converted the rectory into a R47.5 million three-storey mansion with 24 rooms. 

Home sweet home: Maximum security for Oscar Pistorius

The UK publication also reported that Arnold turned the luxurious Lawley Street property into a stronghold to ensure his nephew’s safety.

He has reportedly hired armed guards with attack dogs and has put up razor wire and electric fences around the property.

Pistorius’s “five-star” cottage on the grounds has panic alarms, a front gatehouse and armed security protecting the rear.

This despite the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) slamming media reports that Pistorius was allegedly warned by police that he will forever be a target for underworld figures and angry friends of Reeva’s late father and racehorse trainer, Barry Steenkamp.

Movies, lasagne…and a job offer?

Pistorius’ uncle told The Mirror that the former star athlete’s younger sister, Aimee, is also expected home from London to celebrate her brother’s newfound freedom.

Before his release, he reportedly told friends he couldn’t wait to tuck into some homemade lasagne and spend some quality time on the couch watching his favourite films, Snatch and Full Metal Jacket.

His uncle also revealed during the interview that the athlete has been offered a job, but declined to provide any details.

He was initially convicted of culpable homicide, an offence comparable to manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp four times with his licensed 9mm Parabellum pistol through a closed toilet door in his Pretoria home in the luxury Silver Woods Country Estate.

The former FHM and Maxim magazine pin-up reportedly died instantly.

Pistorius in the dock

Pistorius won two golds and a silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.

He also made history when he became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics.

At the start of his sensational murder trial which generated widespread international interest, the sporting icon claimed he shot Steenkamp by accident.

Throughout the gruelling six-month trial, Pistorius maintained that he had mistaken her for an intruder, and the court accepted his argument that he had not intended to kill her.

He was found not guilty of murder, but convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for six years.

He spent his first year behind bars in Kgosi Mampuru II top-security prison, where – according to The Sun, Pistorius was so terrified of being attacked or poisoned that he only ever ate tinned food which he bought himself at the prison shop. 

From culpable homicide to murder: Long walk to freedom for Pistorius

However, Steenkamp’s parents – June and Barry – maintained throughout the years that Pistorius deliberately murdered her after a row in which she threatened to leave him.

An appeal by state prosecutors was upheld and in December 2015, his conviction was upgraded to murder.

In 2016, Pistorius was moved to Atteridgeville, where he was given his bath and toilet to avoid being attacked in the communal showers by members of the Numbers gang, according to media reports.

The Supreme Court of Appeal eventually ruled in 2017 that Pistorius should serve South Africa’s minimum sentence of 15 years for murder, but considered the year and seven months he had already served for culpable homicide when it handed down Pistorius’s sentence of 13 years and five months.

Newfound faith?

Pistorius reportedly turned to religion and took weekly Bible classes while in prison.

He also helped illiterate prisoners read their mail and write letters and was allowed his own allotment to grow vegetables.

‘I’m not convinced’ – June Steenkamp

Reeva’s mother, June, said before Pistorius’s successful parole hearing that her former racehorse trainer husband Barry had died of a “broken heart” in September.

“I’m not convinced Oscar has been rehabilitated,” she was reported as saying in the media.

In a statement released on Friday on behalf of her and her late husband, June said Pistorius’s release on parole had affirmed their belief in the South African justice system.

“The conditions imposed by the parole board, which includes anger management courses and programmes on gender-based violence, send out a clear message that gender-based violence is taken seriously.”

Justice for Reeva?

Addressing the issue whether she thought there has been justice for Reeva through the time served in jail by Pistorius, June wrote:

“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.”

Article: Caxton publication, The Citizen

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