Oscar Pistorius has been granted parole.
The jailed paralympian’s bid for parole was granted on Friday during his appeal at a correctional centre outside Pretoria where he is currently detained.
The Department of Correctional Services explained that the parole placement decision was taken by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB), having assessed Pistorius’ profile and other material submitted for the purposes of parole consideration.
DCS spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo, explained that Pistorius will be paroled effective January 5, 2024.
“Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, but the case went through a number of appeals and was eventually ratified to 13 years and five months in 2017,” he said.
The DCS stated that Pistorius was classified as a first-time offender.
"Oscar Pistorius’s parole placement is in line with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act. Parole placement forms part of the total rehabilitation programme in correcting offending behaviour and may include continuation of programmes aimed at reintegration whilst in the system of community corrections,“ Singabakho added.
He said Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires.
This week IOL reported that Pistorius’s legal team hoped that he would be hope for Christmas.
However, a legal representative for the Steenkamp family explained that the parole process takes time for internal processes to be completed.
IOL