A Pretoria court this spring rejected the former disabled athlete’s application for parole, saying he had not served the minimum required jail time. He ruled that Pistorius can apply for parole again in August 2024.
Representatives of the Ministry of Justice and the Prison Service submitted new documents to the Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday, saying they would not oppose Pistorius’s appeal because he had served the prescribed time in prison and should be immediately declared eligible for parole.
Offenders sentenced to more than two years in prison in South Africa must serve half of their sentence to be eligible for parole.
Pistorius killed Reeva Steekamp on Valentine’s Day 2013 at their home. Allegedly thinking it was a burglar, he fired several shots through the bathroom door. He was originally sentenced to five years in 2014 for manslaughter, but the appeals court reclassified the act as murder and sent the athlete behind bars for six years.
Under pressure from the prosecution, in November 2017 the Court of Appeal increased his sentence to 13 years and five months. It was precisely because of the series of appeals that it was not clear in his case when he would be eligible for parole.
