Reeva Steenkamp's mother to snub Oscar Pistorius parole hearing with freedom a possibility

Reeva Steenkamp mother June

Reeva Steenkamp's mother June will not be attending Oscar Pistorious' parole hearing on Friday

GETTY
Jack Otway

By Jack Otway


Published: 21/11/2023

- 09:07

Updated: 21/11/2023

- 09:08

The Paralympian murdered his girlfriend on the eve of Valentine's Day back in 2013

Reeva Steenkamp's mother, June, will not be present at Oscar Pistorius' parole hearing on Friday.

The Paralympian murdered his model girlfriend back in 2013 and was later sentenced to 13 years and six months for the killing.


Pistorius was previously eligible for parole in March but a blunder meant he wasn't considered for release.

Now, however, he's hoping to finally be freed from prison a decade on from the killing.

Reeva Steenkamp mother

Reeva Steenkamp's mother is still in mourning after the death of her husband Barry in September

GETTY

On Tuesday morning, June Steenkamp's legal representative said she wouldn't be attending the parole hearing on Friday following the recent death of her husband.

Mr Barry Steenkamp died suddenly in his sleep in September at the age of 80.

"June is still in mourning," Tania Koen told Maroela Media.

Reeva was the couple's only child and was just 29 when she was killed over a decade ago.

She was a model for the likes of FHM magazine and Avon Cosmetics prior to her murder.

Speaking earlier this year, Reeva's parents laid bare their torment after the death of their daughter.

Barry met with Pistorius and said he felt the 36-year-old should remain in prison as a result of his devastating actions.

He told the Daily Mail at the time: "I told Oscar directly that he had shot my daughter deliberately and he denied it.

"He stuck to his story that he thought it was an intruder.

"After all these years we are still waiting for him to admit he did it in anger. That is all we wanted.

"If he told me the truth, he would have been a free man by now and I would have let the law take its course over his parole.

"But I was wasting my time. He is a murderer. He should remain in jail."

June said she was unable to face Pistorius because she was worried she could attack him and end up behind bars herself.

"I couldn't see myself going without hurting him," she said.

"I didn't want to go to jail for attacking him. That would have been a great possibility.

"Things haven't got better. It gets worse as the time goes by because we miss Reeva every day that she is not here with us.

"It's very, very stressful that she couldn't spend our last days with us because he took her.

"Oscar has taken a lot away from us and from her.

"So now instead of getting upset, I get anger.

"I am angry with him. It is a horrible thing to say, but I can't stand him.

LATEST SPORTS NEWS:

Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius murdered girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp back in 2013

GETTY

"I don't think that he got enough time and if somebody takes a life they must pay with their life in jail.

"He has taken her life away from us. Everything that we would have had with the joyfulness of having her.

"Reeva was a wonderful daughter, and she never made a wrong move in her life.

"She never stressed us out with anything. She was just a perfect person and a loving person for both of us.

"That has gone, but we think of her all the time. Those are the hardest of things.

Reeva Steenkamp

Reeva Steenkamp was aged just 29 at the time of her murder

GETTY

"She wanted to have children and she wanted to get married. But she got involved with the wrong person.

"I have become another person too. People ask me what defines me, and it is Reeva's death.

"I am not the same person. I feel that and when I look in the mirror, I am not seeing me.

"I have lost the big something in my life. It is too much. She was everything to us. She was our whole life and now we haven't got her anymore.

"He never showed any remorse to Barry whatsoever. He is a murderer."

You may like