The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) on Friday confirmed the placement on parole of Oscar Pistorius, effective from 5 January 2024.

Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, but the case went through a number of appeals and was eventually ratified to 13 years and five months in 2017.

The parole placement decision was taken by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB), having assessed Pistorius’s profile and other material submitted for the purposes of parole consideration.

“Classified as a first time offender with a positive support system, Oscar Pistorius’s parole placement is in line with Section 73 of the Correctional Services Act,” the Department of Correctional Services said in a statement.

Parole placement forms part of the total rehabilitation programme in correcting offending behaviour and may include continuation of programmes aimed at reintegration whilst in the system of community corrections.

“Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires,” the department said.

Pistorius was convicted of killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day in 2013.

In 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal sentenced the former Paralympian to 13 years in prison after the State applied to have his initial six-year prison sentence increased.

Pistorius fired four shots through a bathroom door, claiming that he believed there was an intruder in his home. – SAnews.gov.za