Former Paralympic gold medalist and convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius will remain behind bars after a parole board denied his early release on March 31.
The South African authorities revealed that he had not yet served enough time to qualify for early release. Oscar Pistorius, 36, is serving 13 years for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in 2013.
The parole board met to hear evidence, including from Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp’s mother.
However, instead of giving a decision afterwards, embarrassed officials admitted their timings had been wrong.
Earlier this week, they had received, but ignored, a letter from South Africa’s top appeals court, which explained that Oscar Pistorius needed to spend another year and a half in prison before he could be considered for parole.
Photo Getty Images
The hearing at Atteridgeville prison, a low-security facility in rolling fields just outside the city of Pretoria, should never have happened.
For weeks, officials had insisted the amputee former sprinter was eligible to apply for parole, having served half his sentence.
The confusion stems from the fact that Oscar Pistorius’s time in prison has been broken up by appeals and by a period of house arrest.
There is disagreement about where to draw the halfway line.
Oscar Pistorius’s family have expressed dismay and are seeking legal clarification.
It has been an emotional day for the Steenkamp family, who have welcomed the fact that Pistorius will not be yet be freed.
When June Steenkamp, Reeva’s mother, spoke to reporters before the hearing she said she opposed the release of her daughter’s killer: “I don’t believe Oscar is remorseful… or rehabilitated.”
The six-time Paralympic gold medallist has expressed his deep remorse for killing his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day in 2013, but continues to maintain he shot her by mistake, believing she was a robber.
Oscar Pistorius was initially found guilty of culpable homicide and given a six-year term. But prosecutors launched an appeal, arguing this was too lenient.
The sentence was increased to 13 years as he was then convicted of murder.
This verdict was based on the grounds that he must have known his actions – shooting three times through a locked bathroom door in his Pretoria home – would lead to the death of whoever was on the other side.
The televised trial of the man once dubbed “the Blade Runner”, because of the ground-breaking prosthetic legs he wore in both Paralympic and Olympic track races, attracted huge global attention.
According to the Department of Correctional Services in South Africa, Oscar Pistorius will be reconsidered for parole in August 2024.
Oscar Pistorius has begun serving community service, a month after he was released from jail.
The South African Paralympian athlete was granted parole after serving one year of his five-year sentence for killing his 29-year-old girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Oscar Pistorius, 28, must perform community service under the terms of his release.
In his first public appearance since then, the athlete reported to a police station in Pretoria on November 15 wearing sunglasses and carrying a backpack.
He is serving the rest of his sentence under house arrest at his uncle’s home in Pretoria.
Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, over the death of Reeva Steenkamp.
He told his trial last year that he had shot her through a bathroom door because he had mistaken her for an intruder.
The prosecution is appealing against the verdict, saying Oscar Pistorius should have been convicted of murder.
Oscar Pistorius house arrest conditions:
No access to firearms
No taking of drugs or alcohol, and can be randomly tested by officials
He must continue with psychotherapy sessions
No going out at night
He can work and will not be electronically tagged
His lawyers say track and field training is part of work, but this is still unclear
Oscar Pistorius’ brother, Carl Pistorius, has been “badly hurt” in a car accident, his family said.
Local media report that Carl Pistorius is in ICU after a head-on collision near Pretoria.
The incident comes six days before Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial is set to resume.
During his murder trial, Oscar Pistorius denies killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, saying he shot her believing she was an intruder.
Carl Pistorius is in ICU after a head-on collision near Pretoria (photo EPA)
On Friday it was announced that Oscar Pistorius, 27, had sold the Pretoria house where the shooting took place to help cover his legal fees.
The house sold for 4.5-million rand ($418,000), slightly below the estimated value of 5-million rand.
Carl Pistorius, 29, “was badly hurt but we are thankful that he is out of danger” his family said in a statement.
His car had been hit by another vehicle which had swerved from the opposite side of the road, the statement added.
South African media reported that Carl Pistorius sustained multiple fractures and suffered internal bleeding.
He has been a near-constant presence at Oscar Pistorius’ murder trial.
Oscar Pistorius has described how Carl became a “father figure” for himself and his sister after their parents’ marriage broke down and their mother died.
In May last year Carl Pistorius was acquitted of culpable homicide over the death of a motorcyclist in South Africa in 2008.
The Oscar Pistorius trial is set to resume on August 7, with both teams expected to present their closing arguments.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela has left a Pretoria hospital and has gone to his Johannesburg home, where he is continuing to receive intensive care, the presidency says on its website.
The announcement came a day after officials denied reports that Nelson Mandela, 95, had already been discharged.
The presidency’s statement says Nelson Mandela’s condition remains critical and at times unstable.
South Africa’s first democratically elected president has been in hospital since June with a lung infection.
Nelson Mandela, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is revered around the world for leading the fight against white minority rule and preaching reconciliation with the white community despite being imprisoned for 27 years.
“His team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria [hospital],” the statement from President Jacob Zuma’s says.
It adds that Nelson Mandela’s home in the suburb of Houghton has been “reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there” and he will be treated by the same health care personnel who have been looking after him since June 8.
Nelson Mandela has left a Pretoria hospital and has gone to his Johannesburg home
If necessary, he will be readmitted to hospital, the presidency says.
Despite his various illnesses, the statement from Jacob Zuma’s office notes, the former president had displayed “immense grace and fortitude”.
The South African government has released few details about his condition, appealing for Nelson Mandela’s privacy and dignity to be respected.
Correspondents say this is not the discharge of a man who has made a significant recovery but the transfer of a patient from an intensive care ward in a hospital to a specially built intensive care unit in his own home, presumably in line with his family’s wishes.
“It is a day of celebration for us, that he is finally back home with us,” said his grandson Mandla Mandela.
On Saturday, sources close to Nelson Mandela told the international media that he had already returned home.
This was denied by South Africa’s presidency, which handles all communications about the former leader’s health.
Nelson Mandela’s lung condition is said to result from the tuberculosis he contracted during the 27 years he spent in prison for taking up arms against white minority rule.
He is been hospitalized four times in the past year and his latest stay lasted 84 days.
He became president after 1994 elections – the first time black South Africans were allowed to vote – and stepped down five years later.
Nelson Mandela’s last public appearance was at the 2010 football World Cup, which South Africa hosted.
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