Reeva’s murder summed up so much of what is evil in this country

Age will not weary Reeva Steenkamp … her beautiful features are forever frozen in time. She never saw her 30th birthday, because she was gunned down on Valentine’s Day 10 years ago by Oscar Pistorius. He still sits in jail, waiting to see if he will ever be granted parole.

His supporters say he has served enough time, having done less than seven of his 13-yearand-five-month sentence. The argument is that nothing will be served by him staying longer behind bars … which is true, because nothing can bring back Reeva.

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Yet, a life has been snuffed out too soon. A family has been ripped to pieces – and, in that context, even 13- plus years doesn’t seem enough recompense.

Reeva’s murder summed up so much of what is evil in this country: violence against women, abuse of alcohol and the prevalence of firearms.

In the decade since Reeva was shot, has anything got any better in those areas? There would be few who would argue that our violent society has improved at all since then. In reality, it seems to have got a lot worse.

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The best way we can honour the memory of Reeva Steenkamp is to work to end those evils.