We ‘Are the Ones Serving a Life Sentence,’ Says Reeva Steenkamp’s Family After Oscar Pistorius’ Release

Reacting to the release of the man who killed her daughter in 2013, June Steenkamp vows to carry on her legacy by helping victims of domestic violence

Former Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius is a free man after being released from prison last week. He served nearly nine years in prison for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, but her still-distraught family will remain imprisoned by the pain of her loss, says her mother.

“Has there been justice for Reeva?” June Steenkamp said in a statement shared by the family’s attorney Friday, the same day Pistorius was released on parole.

“Has Oscar served enough time?” she said in the statement. “There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back.

“We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence,” she said.

"My only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy," she said.

The foundation, according to its website, “strives to be Reeva’s voice and continue her work to educate the world against the abuse of women and children; to educate women of their self-worth and right to a safe environment, to inform victims of abuse of the resources available to them; and to empower these women through education and skills development to become self-supporting.”

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Dubbed “Blade Runner,” Pistorius rose to fame for breaking world records as a double-amputee sprinter who won six gold medals in Paralympic games in Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.

Related: Oscar Pistorius Released on Parole After Serving Half His Sentence for Killing Reeva Steenkamp

On Feb. 14, 2013, he made headlines of a darker sort when he killed his Steenkamp, 29, a model and law school graduate.

Saying he believed there was an intruder inside the couple’s Pretoria, South Africa, home, he shot a gun through the bathroom door, striking and killing Steenkamp. He pleaded not guilty but prosecutors argued he intentionally killed her in a fit of rage.

In 2014, he was convicted of culpable homicide or manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison.

He appealed, but in 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the previous conviction and found him guilty of murder. In 2016, he was sentenced to 13 years and five months in prison for murdering Steenkamp.

On Friday, a statement issued by South Africa's Department of Correctional Services confirmed Pistorius “is now a parolee, effectively from 5 January 2024. He was admitted into the system of Community Corrections and is now at home."

In an interview broadcast in 2016 on REELZ, just before he was sentenced, an emotional Pistorius addressed his actions in 2013.

“I did take Reeva’s life, and I have to live with it,” he said through tears. “I can smell the blood. I can feel the warmness of it on my hands. And to know that that’s your fault, that that’s what you’ve done.

“And I understand the pain people feel that loved her and miss her,” he added. “I feel that same pain, I feel that same hate for myself, I feel that same difficulty in understanding this. And I look back and I think – I always think, how did this possibly happen?”

On Nov. 24, Pistorius was granted parole and was scheduled to be released after serving half of his sentence.

He will finish the rest of his sentence in South Africa’s community corrections system, South Africa's Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said in November, Reuters reported.

He will remain under DCS supervision until the end of his sentence in December 2029, per Reuters.

Subject to parole conditions, Pistorius will report to a parole officer and will be required to notify the officer if he moves or gets a job, the BBC reported. Pistorius will be required to attend gender-based violence classes and continue anger management therapy, a lawyer for the Steenkamp family said, per Reuters.

During November’s parole board hearing, June said in a letter that she was concerned that Pistorius's "huge anger issues" were thoroughly addressed in prison, according to the BBC.

She said in the statement that she would be "concerned for the safety of any woman" who comes into contact with him, per the BBC.

Earlier this year, Reeva’s father and June’s husband, Barry Steenkamp died, she noted in the statement.

"My dear Barry left this world utterly devastated by the thought that he had failed to protect his daughter,” she said in the statement, according to the outlet.

“I've no doubt that he died of a broken heart," the statement read.

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