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Oscar Pistorius walks: Blade Runner’s R47m armed fortress, some ‘Snatch’ and lots of lasagne
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius has been released on parole into the care of his uncle with his very own maximum security 'Oscar cottage'.
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius will be living in his very own ‘Oscar cottage’ on the grounds of the fortified Waterkloof mansion (left) of his uncle. Arnold Pistorius. Oscar and Reeva Steenkamp (top right); and ‘Blade Runner’ in action at the 2012 London Paralympics. Photos via X @Dreeew71 and AFP/ Getty Images
World-famous Paralympian and double amputee Oscar Pistorius has been released on parole on Friday after serving almost a decade behind bars for the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Pistorius has swapped his adapted cell in the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre for his very own “Oscar cottage” on the sprawling estate of his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, in the upmarket Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof.
The property tycoon and his wife, Lios, raised Pistorius, his sister and brother, Carl, from their teenage years after the death of their mother when the sporting icon was 15.
The Pistorius family’s diverse business interests reportedly also include mining and tourism.
According to The Mirror, Pistorius’s uncle bought the house in 1992 from a former Dutch Reformed Church and converted the rectory into a R47.5 million three-storey mansion with 24 rooms.
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Home sweet home: Maximum security for Oscar Pistorius
The UK publication also reported that Arnold turned the luxurious Lawley Street property into a stronghold to ensure his nephew’s safety.
He has reportedly hired armed guards with attack dogs and has put up razor wire and electric fences around the property.
Pistorius’s “five-star” cottage on the grounds has panic alarms, a front gatehouse and armed security protecting the rear.
This despite the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) slamming media reports that Pistorius was allegedly warned by police that he will forever be a target for underworld figures and angry friends of Reeva’s late father and racehorse trainer, Barry Steenkamp.
Movies, lasagne…and a job offer?
Pistorius’ uncle told The Mirror that the former star athlete’s younger sister, Aimee, is also expected home from London to celebrate her brother’s newfound freedom.
Before his release, he reportedly told friends he can’t wait to tuck into some homemade lasagne and spend some quality time on the couch watching his favourite films, Snatch and Full Metal Jacket.
His uncle also revealed during the interview that the athlete has been offered a job, but declined to provide any details.
Pistorius ‘fears for his safety’
In an interview last year, Bill Schroder, Pistorius’s former headmaster at Pretoria Boys High School who visited him at Atteridgeville four times, told The Sun that Pistorius feared parole.
“He spoke about his fears about how he will be treated by the public when he is out, as he knows he has those who support him, but he knows there are many others who don’t.
“He fears for his safety and being attacked if he just takes a walk down to the shops.
“He has been offered a safe place in Italy where he has some family but under the terms of his parole, he can’t leave the country.
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Chain-smoking Pistorius ‘desperate’ to be forgiven’
“When we met (in prison), it was very emotional and we both hugged and cried. I was surprised to find he had a big beard and that he was chain-smoking.
“He was desperate to be forgiven by her parents. He was more concerned about forgiveness than getting parole,” Schroder was quoted as saying.
Oscar and Reeva’s bloody Valentine’s
The 37-year-old Paralympian, nicknamed “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre running blades, became eligible for parole in March 2023, after having served half of his 13-year, five-month sentence. His parole was granted on 24 November.
Pistorius was jailed in late 2014 for killing Steenkamp – a 29-year-old model, law graduate and his girlfriend of three months – in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.
He was initially convicted of culpable homicide, an offence comparable to manslaughter, for shooting Steenkamp four times with his licensed 9mm Parabellum pistol through a closed toilet door in his Pretoria home in the luxury Silver Woods Country Estate.
The former FHM and Maxim magazine pin-up reportedly died instantly.
Pistorius in the dock
Pistorius won two golds and a silver medal at the 2012 London Paralympics.
He also made history when he became the first amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics.
At the start of his sensational murder trial which generated widespread international interest, the sporting icon claimed he shot Steenkamp by accident.
Throughout the gruelling six-month trial, Pistorius maintained that he had mistaken her for an intruder, and the court accepted his argument that he had not intended to kill her.
He was found not guilty of murder, but convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison for six years.
He spent his first year behind bars in Kgosi Mampuru II top-security prison, where – according to The Sun, Pistorius was so terrified of being attacked or poisoned that he only ever ate tinned food which he bought himself at the prison shop.
From culpable homicide to murder: Long walk to freedom for Pistorius
However, Steenkamp’s parents – June and Barry – maintained throughout the years that Pistorius deliberately murdered her after a row in which she threatened to leave him.
An appeal by state prosecutors was upheld and in December 2015, his conviction was upgraded to murder.
In 2016, Pistorius was moved to Atteridgeville, where he was given his own bath and toilet to avoid being attacked in the communal showers by members of the Numbers gang, according to media reports.
The Supreme Court of Appeal eventually ruled in 2017 that Pistorius should serve South Africa’s minimum sentence of 15 years for murder, but considered the year and seven months he had already served for culpable homicide when it handed down Pistorius’s sentence of 13 years and five months.
Newfound faith?
Pistorius reportedly turned to religion and took weekly Bible classes while in prison.
He also helped illiterate prisoners read their mail and write letters and was allowed his own allotment to grow vegetables.
‘I’m not convinced’ – June Steenkamp
Reeva’s mother, June, said before Pistorius’s successful parole hearing that her former racehorse trainer husband Barry had died of a “broken heart” in September.
“I’m not convinced Oscar has been rehabilitated,” she was reported as saying in the media.
In a statement released on Friday on behalf of her and her late husband, June said Pistorius’s release on parole had affirmed their belief in the South African justice system.
“The conditions imposed by the parole board, which includes anger management courses and programmes on gender-based violence, send out a clear message that gender-based violence is taken seriously.”
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Justice for Reeva?
Addressing the issue whether she thought there has been justice for Reeva through the time served in jail by Pistorius, June wrote:
“There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back.
“We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence.”
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