by South African Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was released on parole and will be released from prison on January 5.
The amputee blade runner, who won six Paralympic gold medals and reached the semifinals of the 200-meter dash at the 2012 London Olympics, was told he could walk free after serving nine years in prison for the murder of his girlfriend. Reeva Steenkamp. , in 2013.
The decision marks a new chapter in a case that continues to captivate South Africa and the rest of the world, and which generated one of the trials of the century.
But it is another painful blow for the family of the woman he killed, who believe he never told the truth about the night he shot their daughter. “Only Oscar knows the truth,” his father, Barry Steenkamp, said earlier this year in his last interview before the 80-year-old died in September. “If he had told the truth at the beginning, he would have felt a lot better. “People would have forgiven him quicker.”
Pistorius was on top of the world when, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, he fired four shots through a bathroom door, killing Steenkamp, who was inside.
The previous year he had competed in London with his custom carbon fiber prosthetics against the world’s fastest able-bodied athletes. The triumph of the boy who had two legs amputated below the knee when he was a child due to a congenital disease became an inspiring example of humanity’s ability to overcome disability.
In South Africa, a country that embraces unifying heroes, he was an idol.
With his position as favorite son, it was not surprising that he was soon dating one of the country’s favorite daughters, model and television personality Reeva Steenkamp, who was the face of an anti-bullying campaign.
What seemed like a golden life of red carpet events ended just three months into their relationship, when he opened fire at her Pretoria home with his 9mm pistol.
Prosecutors alleged that Steenkamp, then 29, was killed while hiding in the bathroom after a heated fight.
Pistorius, the only witness, claimed that it was a terrible accident: he did not know that his girlfriend had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had mistaken her for a dangerous intruder behind the door.
The trial paralyzed South Africa. It was the first in the country to be televised and daily events were reviewed in prime time.
“People were angry with Oscar,” recalls David O’Sullivan, a prominent journalist who hosted a nightly television panel of legal experts. “He was supposed to fly our flag, and none of it was racial: blacks and whites were saying the same thing. “They also felt betrayed by Oscar as murder is widespread in South Africa.”
As the hearing progressed, South Africans debated every revelation and every major legal point.
“When the lawyers and I went out for a drink, people would stop them for autographs and selfies,” says O’Sullivan.
The high-profile case also highlighted that the country’s murder epidemic, and particularly its high levels of violence against women, was not just affecting municipalities, says Lisa Vetten of the Gender Violence and Urban Transformation Project at the University of Johannesburg.
“People became interested and learned that this wasn’t just happening in poor black communities,” he says. “Six women are murdered every day in South Africa.”
After months of evidence, Judge Thokozile Masipa, one of the country’s first black judges, appeared to believe Pistorius’s account and convicted him of manslaughter, a charge comparable to involuntary manslaughter.
However, his decision was later overturned by the Supreme Court, which ruled that even if Pistorius believed he was shooting at an intruder, he must have reasonably foreseen that the person behind the door would die. As such, he was guilty of murder under the principle of dolus eventualis, an obscure legal term that quickly entered the South African vocabulary.
Chris Greenland, a retired judge who was one of many who pored over the case each night on television, explains: “If someone shoots birds in their yard, for example, knowing that there is a playground in the background, they can can argue that the shooter foresaw that he could also kill a child.”
When Judge Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison, the Supreme Court intervened again, calling the sentence “surprisingly lenient.” Pistorius was eventually jailed in November 2017 for 13 years and five months, taking into account time already served.
Pistorius has not been photographed since. Unconfirmed reports from his time in Atteridgeville Prison have suggested that he grew a beard, gained weight and took up smoking, making him unrecognizable from the elite athlete he once was.
Earlier this year, the Constitutional Court ruled that authorities had wrongly calculated when he should be eligible for parole. Confusion over when his sentence began meant he should have been eligible several months earlier.
Before he died, Barry Steenkamp stated that he had no objection to the authorities granting him parole, although he acknowledged that his opinion could change as the date approached. He had met Pistorius in prison as part of a restorative justice program, but his wife, June, refused, saying she was afraid of what she would do if she confronted him.
He also did not attend today’s parole hearing. Instead, June Steenkamp wrote a letter to be read at the meeting, detailing the devastating personal consequences of Pistorius’ crime and saying that she did not believe the former athlete was rehabilitated.
“Rehabilitation requires someone to honestly engage with the full truth of their crime and its consequences. “No one can say they have remorse if they are not able to fully commit to the truth,” he stated.
Despite this, officials ruled that Pistorius could be released. As part of his parole, which will last until December 5, 2029, he will be prohibited from leaving his area of Pretoria without permission and will be required to attend an anger management program and perform community service.
Family sources told The Telegraph that Pistorius would live with his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, a wealthy property developer, at his Waterkloof mansion in Pretoria. However, now 37 years old, Pistorius’ career as an athlete is over. However, it is possible that he could still find employment as a coach or elsewhere in the sports industry, sources close to the case predict. He can also choose to study.
If he cannot overcome his notoriety in his homeland, once his parole is over, Pistorius could also follow the example of many South Africans and choose to emigrate. He has two siblings believed to be abroad, including a sister, Aimee, who reportedly lives in London.
However, if Pistorius today contemplates his future, June Steenkamp, now widowed and supposedly in difficult financial circumstances, is left with the past and her daughter’s legacy.
Originally from Blackburn, Lancashire, she has set up a foundation in Reeva’s name to highlight violence against women and children. Speaking earlier this year to mark the tenth anniversary of her daughter’s death, she admitted that every day was difficult; She was still mourning.
The 78-year-old then said: “We love her very much and miss her very much. Part of our life is gone, but we will see it one day and that is what we hope.”
