Former Paralympic champion and convicted killer Oscar Pistorius has struggled to find work since his release from prison in South Africa in January.
Pistorius was released from prison on parole at the start of the year having served nearly nine years of his 13 years and five months murder sentence for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day 2013. He was approved for parole in November.
According to the New York Post, the former sprinter reached out to at least two members of the International Paralympic Committee for work but was turned away.
“He’s too toxic to work with now,” one of the members told the Post. “There’s nothing for him here.”
Pistorius has been living at his uncle’s mansion in the upscale Waterkloof suburb of Pretoria and has been working at the Dutch Reformed Church.
“He’s not friendly, not outgoing,” a parishioner told the New York Post. “I don’t know if I’ve even seen him crack a smile. He’s just a shadow of what he once was.”
Pistorius will live under strict parole conditions until the remainder of his sentence expires in December 2029.
Steenkamp’s mother, June Steenkamp, said in a statement in January that she had accepted Pistorius’ parole as part of South African law.
“Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back,” June Steenkamp said. “We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence.
“With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, 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.”
Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius at a bail hearing in 2013. He has now been released under strict parole conditions until the remainder of his sentence expires in December 2029. Photo / AP
South Africa’s Department of Corrections emphasised in January that the multiple Paralympic champion’s release – like every other offender on parole – does not mean that he has served his time.
Some of Pistorius’ parole conditions include restrictions on when he’s allowed to leave his home, a ban on consuming alcohol, and orders that he must attend programmes on anger management and on violence against women. He will have to perform community service.
Pistorius will also have to regularly meet with parole officials at his home and at correctional services offices and will be subjected to unannounced visits by authorities. He is not allowed to leave the Waterkloof district without permission and is banned from speaking to the media until the end of his sentence. He could be sent back to jail if he is in breach of any of his parole conditions.
Pistorius has maintained that he shot Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model and law graduate, by mistake. He testified that he believed Steenkamp was a dangerous intruder hiding in his bathroom and shot through the door with his licensed 9mm pistol in self-defence.
Prosecutors said he killed his girlfriend intentionally during a late-night argument.
Pistorius leaves the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa, on June 15, 2016. Photo / AP
Steenkamp’s family did not oppose his parole application in November, although June Steenkamp said in a victim statement submitted to the parole board that she didn’t believe Pistorius had been fully rehabilitated and was still lying about the killing.
Before the killing, Pistorius was held up as an inspiring role model after having had both of his legs amputated below the knee as a baby because of a congenital condition. He became a champion sprinter on his carbon-fibre running blades and made history by competing at the 2012 London Olympics.
But his murder trial destroyed his image. He was accused of being prone to angry outbursts and acting recklessly with guns, while witnesses testified about various altercations he had with others, including an argument in which he allegedly threatened to break a man’s legs.
Pistorius was first convicted of culpable homicide – a charge comparable to manslaughter – and sentenced to five years in prison for killing Steenkamp. After appeals by prosecutors, he was ultimately found guilty of murder and had his sentence increased, although that judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal still didn’t definitively rule that he knew it was Steenkamp behind the toilet door.
Pistorius was first sent to prison in 2014, was released on house arrest in 2015 during an appeal and was sent back to prison in 2016. He was initially incarcerated at the maximum security Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria but was moved to Atteridgeville early in his sentence because it is better suited to holding disabled prisoners.
Reaction to Pistorius’ parole has been muted in South Africa, a stark contrast to the first days and months after Steenkamp’s killing, which sparked angry protests outside of Pistorius’ court hearings calling for him to receive a long prison sentence. There is no death penalty in South Africa.
“He has ticked all the necessary boxes,” said Themba Masango, secretary general of Not In My Name International, a group that campaigns against violence against women. “And we can only wish and hope Oscar Pistorius will come out a better human being.
“We tend to forget that there is a possibility where somebody can be rehabilitated.”
