Reeva Steenkamp’s mother has said Oscar Pistorius has “no remorse or rehabilitation” ahead of a parole hearing which will decide whether he will be freed from prison after shooting dead his girlfriend in 2013.
June Steenkamp said she felt “very stressed” before the parole hearing who must determine whether Pistorius will be allowed to serve the rest of his sentence under license at his uncle’s home in the South African capital, Pretoria.
Speaking to Sky News, she said it would be a “very difficult” day for her and her family and it would be “difficult to be in the same room” as the former Paralympian.
Asked if she believed Pistorius had remorse, Ms Steenkamp replied “no, never” before adding: “He has no remorse or rehabilitation.”
Pistorius, now 36, has served half his 13-year sentence and attended a meeting with Reeva Steenkamp’s father as part of South Africa’s restorative justice program last year .
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A decision on his parole is expected to be announced within days or weeks, after the board determines whether “the purpose of imprisonment has been achieved”, a Department of Corrections spokesman said.
The South African athlete launched his parole application in August last year after claiming he had “done everything in [his] the power to rehabilitate
Pistorius with Reeva Steenkamp a few weeks before his murder
“I have completed every possible program that has been presented, and I have indeed qualified under Department of Corrections guidelines for parole,” he said in a statement released at the time by the News24 website.
A hearing had already been canceled because Pistorius failed to meet Ms Steenkamp’s parents, but in June 2022 the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation confirmed that a meeting with Pistorius and Barry Steenkamp had taken place.
