By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
File:Oscar Pistorius arrives in court on 6 July 2016.
The department of correctional services on Monday confirmed convicted Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been transferred to a prison in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape in preparation for him to meet with the family of his late girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.
DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the move was part of a process in which Pistorius is eligible for parole after serving half of his 13-year sentence.
The disgraced athlete has been serving the sentence for the murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
Steenkamp’s parents live in the Eastern Cape.
“The transfer is necessitated by the need to commence with the processes of a victim-offender-dialogue as the victims are based in Gqeberha. Offenders participate in the victim-offender-dialogue as part of their rehabilitation path, wherein they are able to acknowledge the harm they have caused to their victims and the society at large,” Nxumalo added.
He said the victim-offender-dialogue was an internal process.
“Victim-offender dialogues are sensitive, emotional and inconsolable; hence they are presided [over] by highly trained officials who ought to ensure that all parties derive value from the process. DCS is unable to pre-empt the timeframe as this will be guided by the level of preparedness by all participants.”
He added that victim-offender-dialogues were not a parole placement process, but a programme that took place before an offender could be considered for parole.
Pistorius was initially sentenced to six years in prison for culpable homicide after he was convicted of shooting and killing Steenkamp through the door of a locked bathroom cubicle inside his Tshwane home.
Later, the charge was changed to murder and an additional 13 years was added to his sentence, following an appeal by the state for a longer prison sentence.
Pistorius was initially only set to be eligible for parole in March 2023, but the Supreme Court of Appeal failed to account for “time served” when Pistorius’ charge was upgraded from culpable homicide to murder in 2017. It did not consider that Pistorius had already served more than 500 days behind bars.