Pretoria - The parents of slain model, Reeva Steenkamp, will not be making new submissions to the parole board to try to keep their daughter’s killer, Oscar Pistorius, behind bars for longer.
Tania Koen, the lawyer representing June and Barry Steenkamp, said on Friday that the family felt as they did when they made representations to the board in June this year.
“They feel that there is nothing which would bring Reeva back. They have placed their trust in the justice system and they will not be making new submissions or appearing before the parole board. They stand by the submissions they made earlier,” Koen said.
The parole board, sitting at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, was due to decide on Pistorius’s fate on Friday. But it rescheduled its meeting for placing Pistorius under correctional supervision to Thursday next week.
Correctional Services spokesman Manelisi Wolela said the meeting was attended by Pistorius and his lawyer, Brian Webber.
“They were told that the parole board is consulting the family of the victim.”
In June the family said they were shocked Pistorius would be released so soon.
But they said they did not want revenge and wished to move on with their lives. The family said they had forgiven Pistorius.
Koen said it was not going very well with the Steenkamps.
“They take it day by day. Some days are worse than others.
“The only thing keeping June going is the Reeva Steenkamp Foundation.”
Pistorius has lived in uncertainty about his release for a month-and-a-half. He was due to swop his prison cell for his Uncle Arnold’s Waterkloof mansion on August 21 – after he had served just 10 months of his five-year jail term.
However, Justice and Correctional Services Minister, Michael Masutha, on the eve of his release referred the matter to the parole review board.
He objected that the decision to release Pistorius had been made prematurely.
The review board met last month to consider Pistorius’s release. However, as it could not get through its roll, it reconvened on Monday.
This time it referred the matter back to the parole board, which was due to hear the matter on Friday.
The review board was of the view that Pistorius had to undergo further psychotherapy, but conceded that this could be done while he was under correctional supervision.
Webber said this week that they would consider their legal options and decide by the end of this week if they would go to court to obtain an urgent order securing Pistorius’s release.
Webber could not be contacted by late on Friday, but it is expected the legal team will await next week’s outcome before deciding the way forward.
Pretoria News