PRETORIA and LONDON — Oscar Pistorius, the former South African runner who competed in both the Olympics and Paralympics, has been released from prison on parole nearly 11 years after he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
The South African Department of Correctional Services announced Friday that Pistorius, 37, was admitted into the system of Community Corrections and is now at home.
Pistorius was convicted of culpable homicide in 2014 after fatally shooting Steenkamp, a 29-year-old South African model, four times at his home on the morning of Feb. 14, 2013. He claimed he fired his gun after mistaking her for an intruder.
“The Department of Correctional Services affirms that a decision taken by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board on 24 November 2023 to place inmate Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius on parole, effectively from 5 January 2024,” the South African Department of Correctional Services said in a statement Friday.
In this file photo, South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius runs beside Venezuela’s Albert Bravo in the men’s 400m semi-final during the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium August 5, 2012.
Michael Dalder/Reuters
Pistorius’ parole will last until Dec. 5, 2029. He is expected to serve the remainder of his 13 years and 5-month sentence at his uncle’s home in Waterkloof, a suburb of Pretoria, under stringent parole conditions.
Under South Africa’s “General Parole conditions,” Pistorius must be home at “particular hours” of the day. He is not allowed to consume “alcohol and other prohibited substances,” the South African Department of Correctional Services said.
Pistorius must also attend compulsory programs identified by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board and is restricted from conducting any media interviews, according to the South African Department of Correctional Services.
The murder trial of the six-time Paralympic gold medalist — popularly known as the “Blade Runner,” a name derived from the Carbon-fibre prosthetics he wore while racing — was publicized around the world. Pistorius was initially sentenced to six years behind bars in 2016, but that later increased to 13 years and five months after prosecutors argued the prison term was too lenient.