On September 18, the parole board will consider whether or not Oscar Pistorius should be released from prison under correctional supervision.
When does a prisoner in South Africa qualify to be considered for release (either under pardon or correctional supervision)?
In principle legislation makes provision that all sentenced offenders qualify to be considered for possible parole placement after they have served a specified minimum period of detention. This is an automatic process which occurs once you have served the prescribed minimum detention period.
According to the official DCS manual, Oscar was indeed considered too soon (around the 6 month mark).  He should have only been considered for release once he completed 1/6 of his sentence (10 months) which was on August 21st.  Long story short, the justice minister was right to hold Oscar in prison and schedule a hearing for his case to be re-considered.  It wasn’t right because the women’s league requested the minister do so; it was right because the law was not properly followed.
It’s important for us to remember, being considered doesn’t automatically mean a prisoner is entitled to release. Â Release is something that’s awarded when a prisoner has earned it. Â Has Oscar earned it? Â It’s hard for any one of us to say. Â As much as many of us dislike the convict, we haven’t been in prison with him and therefore can only speculate. Regardless of whether or not we believe Oscar received the correct verdict and subsequent sentence, prisoners do have a right to be handled appropriately, not with prejudice, according to the law.
What do I think will happen, and what should happen? Â I previously hypothesized Oscar would be released on September 18th immediately after the hearing because Oscar’s been handled with kid gloves seemingly from the start. Â However, I’ve recently had a change of heart. Â It’s been brought to the public’s attention Oscar’s cell was raided back in May.
I find it interesting that raid was suppressed from the public until now; now that the justice system is under massive scrutiny not only for Judge Masipa’s questionable verdict but also because the parole board glaringly gave Oscar special consideration. Of course, it makes you wonder what else is going on in that prison. Â We don’t know the full results of that raid, but one thing certainly stands out and that is Oscar having access to a (computer) hard drive in his cell. Â Also, the speculation he had access to cell phones.
In light of one embarrassment after the next, I think the parole board will be cautious with Oscar’ decision. Â I think to be conservative, they will keep him in prison for now. Â To answer the question about what they should do – I believe they should keep him, at a minimum, until the hearing for the State’s appeal. Â With the possibility that Oscar could be facing a much longer jail sentence if the appeal is successful [lets hope it is], I can’t imagine why there’d be a rush to let him out two months prior to those proceedings.
I want to hear from you. Â What do you think will and should happen?
For more insight into the psychology of Oscar and what lies next for him, read FUGITIVE available on Amazon. Â It’s a narrative that’s shocking many readers with its perceptiveness and poignancy.
Juror13 
I believe that Oscar Must be released. I feel that he is being victimized. I feel that the minister id Justice is allowing politics more especially the womens league, the focus of his reason to keep Iscar in prison. RELEASE OSCAR IMMEDIATELY.
So I’m guessing you believe Oscar accidentally shot Reeva. I’m curious, and this is a serious question – what evidence that Oscar provided to the court convinced you that the four shots through the door were an accident? Were you an Oscar fan prior to him killing Reeva, and if you were, do you feel your allegiance to him has had some bearing on your opinions of this case? Thanks
Oscar provided every possible evidence. None so deaf as those who don’t want to hear. None so blind as those who don’t want to see. So I won’t waste my time on you!
Should never be in prison in the first place
So you believe Oscar should not pay, at all, for taking the life of another human being?
Have you ever thought that doesnt matter if he is quilty or not.oscar will serve a life sentence.even if his not behind bars.i think his treatment is unfare because of his status and color of his skin.its not like he got drunk use drugs and ran school girls over and was awarded his licence back so he could drive himself to his lawyer.did the womans lip have something to say about that.
No, Hendrik, I have never once had the thought that it doesn’t matter whether he’s guilty or not. Of course it matters. Should we let all criminals roam free because they may experience a “life sentence” of guilty feelings? That’s absurd. And as far as intentionally shooting a human being multiple times – yes, that’s just as bad as getting drunk and running school girls over.
Very true Cynthia! Everyone else in his situation has been sent home without charges or near enough!
Oscar moet vrygelaat word dit was n ongeluk en het hy reeds gedoen!
Oscar was never supposed to be in jail in the first place. Looking at similar cases he was treated and sentenced wrong. Release him please.
Yes, that was and still is the game plan of the Pistorius family. Keep Oscar out of jail regardless of what he does.
Lisa it seems like Oscar is the real victim here.
I guess we’re just abnormally judgmental people.
Yes you are!
Yes you are! Elizabeth is correct. You are obsessed with a dead lady who was just because she posed half naked in magazines. If she had been ugly you wouldn’t care at all . You might even have thought: “Well done, Oscar!” and laughed.
I would have laughed and said well done? You are sick. Thanks for proving that your posts are a joke. I’ll block you now. This blog is a place for respectful discussion.
I believe that the Minister of Justice is just looking at what can guaranty him more votes. obviously these women form a part of his voter roll or may do so in the future if they don’t already …
Oscar Pistorius has been made a sacrifice.. he has been a model prisoner .. He did not even deserve to be in prison to start with as what happened on that valentine morning was a very very tragic and fatal mistake. Can happen to anyone … As a matter of fact nearly happened to me if we were allowed to keep fire arms in our homes here in Botswana ..my country.
I won’t go into the merits of the verdict or sentence. However, I disagree that on this aspect at least, Oscar Pistorius was shown preferential treatment by the Correctional Services. I read (but unfortunately don’t have the link) that it is normal process to consider inmates for placement under correctional supervision or parole up to 6 months ahead of their eligibility date, so considering OP for parole ahead of the 1/6th mark was nothing extraordinary. Also, it seems that 15,000 inmates were released last year alone under the same conditions.
If the Minister had blocked all releases post-19 August that had been decided in the same manner, then his conduct would have been beyond rebuke. However, he blocked just the one under those conditions – and 2 days ahead of his release, when he had at least since June to react – and allowed (and continues to allow) all the others to be released without problems. This is what raised a lot of eyebrows. With his conduct, the Minister has either discriminated against OP, or else discriminated in favour of all the other inmates; there is no way he avoided both of these scenarios.
If the minimum eligibility period is so critical, then the Correctional Services policies should have been changed immediately. If the Minister is happy to retain the status quo, then he should not have intervened in the OP case. This is another case that highlights the need to keep politics and the law separate. The law should be applied equally to all, and politics is sadly not the place to enforce this.
He should not be released. Scores are still in prison for a lot less because they did not have expensive representation. Sentenced under a law that specifically allows release after serving a fraction of time is no coincidence and a big joke! If wanted to treat him like everybody else? Then u should have been transparent! He IS being treated special and to
Pretend otherwise is a joke! Anything less than 10 yrs is a travesty! A whole life has been taken, a young life, an entire family destroyed forever! He should take responsibility, but he won’t do he should be made to! He should be kept in prison, state should win appeal and Oscar should serve 10 yrs min. Then, he may have paid his dues to live the rest of his life in infamy, never to escape his nightmares, which will
Be nothing compared to Reeva’d familie’s never ending nightmare!
4 animal bullets into a closed door is nothing but deliberate!
His anger got the better of him!
Thank you, Sara, for your voice of reason!
You know what, I would love it if an OP supporter would comment on OP’s version, and tell us what he did RIGHT that night.
Every decision OP made was WRONG and he took NO responsibility for it.
He broke virtually every rule of gun ownership in the book.
Ignored countless opportunity to discover that there was no burglar.
Then took unnecessary and extreme action.
On top of that, he threw virtually everyone he could under a bus. Friends, Family, doctors, disabled community, his own defence team and even Reeva!
Pistorious is a gutless sniveling coward, who killed mercilessly, then tells the world that he screams like a woman to avoid responsibility.
What you also need to think about is, if these events DIDNT happen, we now know that this childish arrogant, hotheaded idiot is running around with a very dangerous weapon, he is clearly unable to use it properly/lawfully, use any kind of reasonable judgment and is willing to kill without question…….some hero.