Paralympian convicted of killing his girlfriend is due to leave prison after 10 months to serve time under form of house arrest
A government minister in South Africa has cast doubt on the planned release of Oscar Pistorius from prison on Friday.
Michael Masutha, the justice minister, said he was seeking legal advice on whether the Paralympian – convicted of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013 – should switch to a form of house arrest after serving 10 months behind bars.
Masutha was speaking in response to a petition by a rights group claiming that granting Pistorius parole during women’s month in South Africa would undermine efforts to curb gender violence.
“I’m confident that by Friday I will be in a position to determine whether legally I have the authority to do anything, whether it would be appropriate or actually necessary by law for me to do anything in relation to what was announced by the Department [of Correctional Services] as the imminent release of Mr Pistorius by this Friday,” the minister told eNews Channel Africa.
“I’ll tell you what concerns me most is that if we say this is the law, we must be sure that this indeed is the law, because it would be egg on our face if it turns out that actually we’ve misinterpreted the law. My starting point is upholding the rule of law. That’s what the constitution requires, nothing to do with publicity, with the fact that it’s a high-profile matter.”
The release of Pistorius, who was jailed for five years after being found guilty of culpable homicide, is in line with South African sentencing guidelines that say non-dangerous prisoners should spend only one-sixth of their sentence in custody before moving to “correctional supervision”.
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William Booth, a lawyer, said: “It’s pretty standard. The normal position is that someone with this sentence can be released after one-sixth of it, depending on the behaviour of the prisoner.”
Pistorius’s defence team might contest any intervention by the minister, arguing that he was sentenced under section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 and therefore is eligible for parole. One source close to Pistorius said: “I’m stunned. I really think it’s rubbish. I just can’t see it.”
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The petition to Masutha from an umbrella group known as the Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa says: “We are shocked about the insensitiveness of the parole board to release Oscar Pistorius during women’s month. This decision of the parole board is outrageous and an affront to the aim of women’s month.”
It continues: “The policy that provides that an offender will have to serve at least one-sixth of his sentence before applying to be placed under correctional supervision should not be applied as a fit-one-fit-all approach. Violence against women and children is rife in South Africa; therefore such crimes, despite the sentences they attracted as a result of the technicalities, must be treated with the seriousness they deserve.
“Further, whilst we acknowledge Oscar Pistorius’s constitutional right to be considered for parole like any other offender, it is our submission that placing him under correctional supervision during women’s month will be an insult to the victims of women and child abuse and the women of South Africa in general … This is not emotional but factual. Violence against women will not be eradicated if this is the attitude of the criminal justice system.”
If his release goes ahead, Pistorius will be mostly confined to the home of his uncle Arnold in an upmarket suburb of Pretoria. The high-walled mansion has more than a dozen bedrooms, a private gym, outdoor swimming pool and landscaped gardens.
Pistorius was cleared of murder after telling his trial how he had mistaken Steenkamp for a burglar. Prosecutors have filed an appeal against his culpable homicide conviction in the hope that it will be altered to murder, which would carry a heavier sentence. The appeal will be heard in November
