[imagesource: Alon Skuy / Pool via Reuters file]

Last week, news broke that Oscar Pistorius is eligible for parole.

There’s a difference between being eligible for parole and getting paroled, but it appears as though the disgraced athlete will end his stint behind bars in the not too distant future.

After the Supreme Court of Appeal corrected its ruling on Oscar’s sentence, awarding him 503 days time already served in jail following his arrest and through the ensuing trial, he has actually been eligible for parole since July.

The Department of Correctional Services spokesperson, Singabakho Nxumalo may have told The Daily Maverick that “inmate Oscar Pistorius has not been considered for parole placement,” but steps have been taken to move the process along.

For one, Barry and June Steenkamp, Reeva’s parents, have been contacted regarding a so-called “victim offender dialogue” involving meeting with Oscar.

The NZ Herald reports that Oscar has already sent a letter to the Steenkamps, although it wasn’t very well received:

The family lawyer said that, while they cannot reveal the contents of the letter, it was “like ripping a Band-Aid off a wound”.

…Pistorius wrote the letter to Reeva’s parents, Barry and June, in an attempt to have his parole approved.

“It was quite emotionally distressing for them. They did not know it was coming and it was sent to me by his attorney,” the family’s lawyer, Tania Koen [said].

If (or when) Oscar does get paroled, he would be subject to certain conditions:

These include having to check in with the Community Corrections Office regularly, potentially carrying out some form of community service, and being confined to home if not at work. It is also likely that he would be prohibited from drinking alcohol.

The athlete’s uncle, Arnold Pistorius, who supported him throughout his 2014 trial, has told You magazine that Oscar would return to live with Arnold and his wife Lois in Pretoria. The family lives in a palatial triple-storey converted rectory [above] in the upmarket suburb of Waterkloof, which is where Pistorius stayed during the trial.

He likely won’t be spending much time with his siblings.

Sister Aimée has moved to London, where she works in finance, and brother Carl (of the infamous Porsche fond letterheads) resides in Houston, Texas.

It’s unlikely we will see Oscar compete ever again:

Pistorius’s family has indicated that it is unlikely that Oscar will return to professional athletics. “Sprinters don’t come back if they haven’t participated for 10 years,” Arnold Pistorius told You.

Pistorius would not have been able to do any meaningful training in prison. One of the few glimpses of his life behind bars, offered by an interview with one of his prison visitors in the 2020 documentary The Trials of Oscar Pistorius, produced the news that Oscar had taken up smoking in jail…

It never stopped Pat Symcox or Shane Warne, although you wouldn’t consider either brisk across the outfield.

Oscar, who looks set to celebrate his 35th birthday behind bars (November 22 – next Monday), will also find it tough to travel abroad.

The family’s sizeable plot of land in Mozambique could be an option if he wants to hide away from prying eyes.

Via IOL, his father Henke hopes he will be home in time for Christmas:

“Whether he gets parole and when it happens is in the hands of the parole board. It is totally in their discussion and I don’t want to create false hopes for us as the family, nor for Oscar, as to when and if he will be released,” he said.

He said if his son was released any time sooner than serving his entire sentence, it would be a bonus for the family.

“But we are not going to build-up all our hopes on an early release. That’s entirely up to the parole board. We have learned during the past eight years to not expect anything.”

Oscar is not the victim here, Henke.

The global media circus looks set to once again return to town.

[sources:dailymaverick&nzherald&iol]