CONVICTED murderer Oscar Pistorius is now a free man.
The Department of Correctional Services has confirmed that Pistorius has been released from prison on parole and is already at his uncle’s home.
This after the Department of Correctional Services confirmed that the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board's (CSPB) decision of 24 November 2023 to release Pistorius on parole effective Friday, 5 January will be enforced.
This means that Oscar will be placed on community service and supervised until the end of his sentence in 2029.
There was a lot of activity at the Kgosi Mampuru Management Area of the Atteridgeville Correctional Services on Thursday, 4 January.
As early as 11pm local and foreign journalists swarmed the institution in an attempt to capture the historic moment of the former Olympic champion's release.
The procedure at the gate is straightforward: Each vehicle is examined before entering and leaving the premises, including correctional officers who alternate shifts.
A correctional officer who did not want to be named said: "High-profile prisoners like Pistorius may have used a different gate to leave the property in order to recover before another high profile prisoner was out on parole."
He referred back to the controversial announcement of Janusz Walus's parole on Wednesday, December 7, 2022, where journalists waited for hours without seeing the anti-apartheid activist's release from prison.
The officer said in closing that the paperwork might have been sent to Community Correction for a long time to be signed and that instead of Oscar departing, he might have been delivered to his home.
Correctional services spokesman Singabakho Khumalo said that Pistorius' bad reputation does not distinguish him from other prisoners or justify unequal treatment.
For this reason, details of transport plans and release dates are not disclosed as disclosure of such information could pose a security risk to the inmate and others concerned.
Therefore, the department must manage this particular risk carefully.
He added that normal parole conditions will apply to Pistorius. For example, he will be expected to be at home at certain times of the day.
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"He is not permitted to consume alcohol or other illegal substances. He will also be required to participate in other programmes set by the CSPB. Like other parolees, Pistorius is prohibited from giving interviews to the media. Therefore, journalists who are outside a correctional facility are not prevented from doing their work, but they cannot obtain photographs or moving images of Pistorius.
"Newly released prisoners on parole could be vulnerable and placed parolees may be vulnerable and need support to adjust to normal life. The carer (family) is responsible for providing this assistance in collaboration with DCS monitoring staff," said Khumalo.
But not everyone was happy about Oscar's parole release.
According to Julia Makata of the Gender-Based Violence (GBV) brigade in the Tshwane region, Oscar's release sends the incorrect message to those who commit fermicide and GBV.
"The justice system continues to fail women and children. His release simply promotes and encourages men to keep on killing women, knowing that they will go to jail and come back on parole if they behave well in prisons, which are now called correctional services," she said.
