June Steenkamp on her arrival at Atteridgeville Prison on Friday. (Photo: by Phill Magakoe / AFP)
Oscar Pistorius is expected to know today whether he will soon be released on parole.
The parole board, which heard Pistorius’ application for parole on Friday morning, is expected to announce the decision on it within hours.
“We have been informed that there will be a decision later today,” said Tania Koen, legal representative of the late Reeva Steenkamp’s parents, after the hearing outside the Atteridgeville prison in Pretoria.
June Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother, made representations to the parole board this morning and asked that Pistorius remain behind bars to serve the remainder of his sentence.
“It was very unpleasant for her… but she knew she had to do it for Reeva,” Koen said of her client’s appearance before the parole board.
Steenkamp and Pistorius appeared separately before the parole board.
June Steenkamp on her arrival at Atteridgeville Prison on Friday. (Photo: by Phill Magakoe / AFP)
Before the trial, Koen told reporters outside the prison that the Steemkamps do not feel that Pistorius has been rehabilitated and that rehabilitation will only take place when he admits that he willfully and knowingly shot their daughter dead.
Pistorius shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp in the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013 in his home in Pretoria when he fired four shots through a bathroom door.
However, he denied that he killed her on purpose and maintained that he mistook Steenkamp for a burglar on that fateful night.
Pistorius, now 36 years old, has already served more than half of his 13-year prison sentence.
Tania Koen addresses the media on Friday. (Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP)
Koen says that after ten years the Steenkamps still haven’t come to terms with the death of their daughter.
“Ten years may sound like a long time to us, but for them it’s ten birthdays, ten Mother’s Days, Father’s Days and Christmases without her.
“Time has not brought healing … they still long for her every day.”
Rhewal reported earlier that Barry Steenkamp, Reeva’s father, could not attend the parole hearing on Friday morning due to ill health.
However, Barry recently saw Pistorius as part of a dialogue process between victims and perpetrators.
Koen says this meeting was “very emotional” and “traumatic” for both Barry and Pistorius.
The Atteridgeville prison where Oscar Pistorius’ parole hearing took place on Friday. (Photo: by Phill Magakoe / AFP)
