Oscar Pistorius — the former Paralympian athlete, who hasn’t been seen for more than a decade — will on Friday have a second chance to apply for parole after he was wrongly ruled ineligible for release from prison in March.
On Friday morning the parole board with gather to decide whether to grant Pistorius parole and if so, when and on what terms he will be released from Atteridgeville Prison, west of Pretoria, where he is being held.
The department of correctional services has confirmed that the parole board is ready and will conduct the hearing “as per the procedure manual and decide whether the inmate is suitable or not for social reintegration”.
Department spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said though there was a chance Pistorius could be granted early release, it was up to the parole board to decide if he qualified and when this would take place, but there was no guarantee of it happening.
Pistorius was at the height of his fame, a sporting hero known as “the Blade Runner”, when he murdered his 29-year-old supermodel girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. On Valentine’s Day — February 14 2013 — he shot her four times with his licensed 9mm pistol, loaded with hollow point “Black Talon” ammunition, while she was hiding in his locked toilet cubicle.
Pistorius has consistently claimed he believed she was a dangerous intruder that had broken in the middle of the night. However, the courts found differently, and Reeva’s parents June and Barry Steenkamp never wavered in their belief that Pistorius shot their daughter intentionally.
June Steenkamp’s lawyer Tania Koen told TimesLIVE Premium that the grieving widow will not attend the hearing, as she is still mourning the death of husband Barry, who died peacefully in his sleep at age 80 on September 14.
Koen said June was not speaking out publicly and will not be opposing parole, however, advocate Annade Theart-Hofmeyr will attend the hearing to read June’s impact statement into the record.
Pistorius’s lawyer Corne Dormehl said his client’s fate was in the hands of the parole board, and declined to predict what decision would be made or when it would be announced. He declined to comment on how Pistorius was feeling.
There’s a lot of pressure on the family, and the euphoria dies down very quickly. They may find themselves ostracised for supporting their own relative.
— Lesley Ann van Selm, founder of Khulia Social Solutions
In papers filed last year against the department of correctional services, Pistorius claimed in an affidavit that he had been a model prisoner and done everything within his power “to rehabilitate, to conduct myself in such a manner as to constantly comply with the prison rules and to show full remorse”.
Before his first aborted parole hearing, there was confusion over calculations of the time he had spent in jail as there had been various appeals and orders issued by the court after Pretoria high court judge Thokozile Masipa sentenced him to six years in prison in October 2014.
The verdict was appealed by the state, and the Supreme Court of Appeal found the prison sentence to be “shockingly lenient” and upped it to 13 years and five months.
Pistorius took the matter to the Constitutional Court for confirmation that he qualified to apply for parole by having served out half his sentence — being six years and eight months by March this year. The ConCourt confirmed that he had met this requirement.
If he is granted parole, it is unlikely Pistorius will be immediately released from custody on Friday and allowed to return to his uncle Arnold Pistorius’s Waterkloof mansion, where he lived after his arrest.
In terms of the Correctional Services Act, an inmate granted parole may not be released less than a month after the parole board’s decision, unless the board regards the case as exceptional or there are medical reasons. This was to allow for the obligatory attendance of pre-release programmes by the offender, the finalisation of support systems and to allow time for a possible review of the decision.
“The date should be approximately two months in the future. If an offender is found to be a suitable candidate on the day of consideration, the placement should not be delayed without good reason,” the act states, in requiring the parole board to give reasons for a release decision being implemented more than two months after it is given.
The parole board will on Friday take into account Pistorius’s conduct, disciplinary record, mental health and the likelihood of him re-offending. This will include the fact that Pistorius was injured in an altercation with another inmate in 2017. He was also treated for wrist injuries that his family denied were the result of self-harm and had happened during a fall in his cell.
Lesley Ann van Selm, founder of Khulia Social Solutions and who has more than 25 years of experience in offender reintegration and restorative justice, said the main consideration in Pistorius’s case would be how prepared he is for the stigmatisation and public reaction he is likely to attract owing to the massive international attention his case attracted.
“A lot of deskilling happens in prison, and the question is what psychological help he has received and has he been properly assessed? Is he at risk of revictimisation? We have been doing a lot of work with adverse childhood experiences or ‘ACEs’ — which is the unpacking of those childhood events like Oscar went through that result in adults that are angry narcissists,” she said.
Another consideration would be the preparation of the family, who will be welcoming him back, while experiencing the anger and hatred of the community who have seen Pistorius as “a hostile, horrible person”.
“There’s a lot of pressure on the family, and the euphoria dies down very quickly. They may find themselves ostracised for supporting their own relative,” Van Selm said, explaining the many considerations.
“There is an massive process that has to be done that involves Oscar, his family and broader family, and a community that also needs closure. If it’s not properly handled he could be a victim of suicide. I am sure he has plans for a book deal and all that, but he also needs to genuinely show remorse.”
Van Selm said due to the high-profile nature of the case and the many elements that need to be considered, it was unlikely that Oscar would be freed immediately.
Pistorius turned 37 on Wednesday. Efforts to reach his family for comment were unsuccessful.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.