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Pistorius must stay in jail – IFP Women’s Brigade

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There is no hierarchy in terms of which life is more important than another, neither should there be seemingly “untouchables”, the IFP Women’s Brigade said on Wednesday.

The party was responding to news that Oscar Pistorius is expected to be released on parole in August. He should spend the rest of his sentence in jail, the Women’s Brigade said.

“The IFP Women’s Brigade is very disappointed to learn that Oscar Pistorius will be released back into society so quickly after he was convicted for his part in the killing of Reeva Steenkamp,” chairperson Madlopha-Mthethwa said in a statement.

“The Department of Correctional Services and parole board must be aware that if they release Oscar so soon, they will be sending a message that people can commit murder and get away with a slap on the wrist. Oscar was convicted in a court of law and must therefore serve his sentence.”

On Monday, the department confirmed that the convicted Paralympian would be paroled later this year.

“The acting national commissioner of correctional services Mr Zach Modise has confirmed that the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre, sat on June 5, [Friday] 2015 and approved the placement of Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision with effect from August 21, 2015,” the department said in a statement.

Culpable homicide

On September 12 2014, Pistorius was acquitted of murder, but convicted of culpable homicide for shooting dead his model and law-graduate girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in the early hours of February 14 2013.

He fired four shots through the locked door of the toilet in his Pretoria home on Valentine’s Day, apparently thinking she was an intruder.

On October 21, Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison for killing Steenkamp, and to three years – suspended for five – for discharging a firearm in a restaurant.

The department said that in line with the provisions of both the Criminal Procedure and Correctional Services Acts, Steenkamp’s family were invited and participated in the deliberations of the CSPB.

Madlopha-Mthethwa said if South Africa wanted to eradicate the scourge of violence towards women, the decision to grant Pistorius parole must be “reversed urgently”.

“It does not get any more serious than murder and there is no hierarchy in terms of which life is more important than another. There should be no ‘untouchables’ in our country as our constitution guarantees that all people are equal before the law.” News24


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9 comments

  1. Oh for goodness sake, why are you talking about "murder"? He was NOT convicted of murder, rather culpable homicide. Please stop trying to be lawyers when you're clearly not. He was sentenced under a particular section of the Criminal Procedure Act where he only has to serve a 10th of the 5 year sentence, depending on good behavior etc and he has obviously been a model prisoner. So why are you surprised? Please, give us all a break. There was no "violence against women" here, it was a genuine mistake, and that is what the judge found. Also, he is not being "released back into society", he is under house arrest for the next four years and 2 months – that is a long sentence. You should rather spend your time and energy campaigning against real criminals, violence and rape of women and children, instead of making a scapegoat of someone just because he happens to be famous.

    1. I am a professional woman and a mother well aware of the appalling way women are treated across the globe. However using this accident as a rallying call to bolster their case is pathetic cowardly and unjust. This was not a incidence of domestic violence in the slightest. On the contrary OP desperately wanted to protect his girl friend from coming to harm. The judge, herself a strong advocate of women’s rights, always very hard on abusers, saw right through the State’s false allegations and acquitted him of murder. OP wouldn’t never ever harm a woman. He adored his mother and respects all women as he respects his sister.

  2. As a woman who believes in equality. I find the above article an insult. It implies that because a woman died at the hand of a man it has to be murder. It has disregarded every piece of evidence that showed that this was not gender violence. It disregarded the results of the psychological assessment. It disregarded the verdict of a Judge known for her stance on VAW and a female assessor. It preferred instead to rely on a prejudicial assumption because it was a woman who died that it had to be domestic violence. Such views sends a dangerous message to society. It promotes the practice where evidence and verdicts are rendered as inconsequential and irrelevant in favour of an ignorant based assumption based on gender stereotyping. For the writer to be a member of an woman's organisation is even more concerning as it paints the view that such groups are incapable of analysing evidence and respect the jurisdiction and verdict of the Court. That is the very damaging and concerning message that is being given to society. I would urge any members of this organisation that respects the law, that wishes to abide by court decisions, that are interested in the facts, the truth as opposed to ignorant assumption to leave the woman's brigade before it is assumed that you are a member of a prejudicial and ignorant organisation, one that is incapable of discerning the difference between murder and culpable homicide.

  3. The IFP women's brigade should take themselves off for a visit to the office of President Zuma and ask him the value of human life in the country. Ask him WHY serious crime is the highest in the world and what is he doing to stop it instead of using Oscar as the media scape goat!

  4. Your Comment So you people want to keep Oscar Pistorius longer in jail.. Why not protesting against the farm murders and indecent ways off the goverment for letting real people suffer in this country.. Supply your equal rights to all who needs it.. Take the billions The so called goverment is wasting on shit and make the country a better place. Your brains are load shedding and you are digging this country’s apartheid intp a bigger darker hole.. See that the real murderers are in jail.. But tomorrow when you are a victim dont cry for me…

  5. Thank God the SA justice system is not entirely ruled by the media and the mob. After the fiasco of televising the trial allowing the ignorant hoi polloi to conduct a trial by media and put aa stricken unfortunate and innocent man in jail at least they haven't changed the parole rules for OP yet . IT's still the same for everyone famous or not.

  6. The IFP women should have said something during the 80's when people were being killed only for wearing ANC skipper thousands of them. We needed their voice then,now they should not say anything about Oscar. He is not into politics

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