Oscar parole hearing continues today

Spokesperson Manelisi Wolela issued a ststament saying the Kgosi Mampuru II prison’s parole board would then decide if the former Paralympian could be released into correctional supervision.

Pistorius and his lawyer met the board on Friday. They were told the board was consulting Reeva Steenkamp’s family about Pistorius’s possible release.

Pistorius had initially been expected to be released on August 21. Justice Minister Michael Masutha however blocked this and referred the matter back to the parole review board.

He said the parole board had acted prematurely when it decided on June 5 to release Pistorius. It should have met on August 21, after Pistorius had served one-sixth of his five-year jail sentence, to decide if he could be released into correctional supervision.

On October 21 last year, Pistorius was sentenced to five years for shooting Steenkamp dead on Valentine's Day in 2013.

He fired four shots through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria home, apparently thinking an intruder was hiding behind it.

The double-amputee track star was sentenced to a further three years, suspended for five years, for firing a shot at Tasha’s restaurant in Johannesburg, in January 2013.

At least three different media houses are stationed at the prison, with others gathered at the correctional services department's offices in the capital's CBD awaiting the outcome of Oscar's latest parole hearing.

(File photo: Gallo Images)