Oscar Pistorius transferred to different prison

14 November 2016

Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius has been transferred from the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison to the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre, the Department of Correctional Services confirmed on Monday.

Spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said this was after “very careful consideration of all important factors” led to the decision that the facility was best to accommodate him.

“The centre is used to accommodate offenders sentenced from 0 to 6 years and has rehabilitation and development programmes in place for all offenders in its care,” he said.

Since his imprisonment, Pistorius was being held at the remand detention centre, used to accommodate awaiting trials and sentenced offenders who need full time hospitalisation or health care, Nxumalo explained.

“This was done in order to accommodate his disability needs. However, the remand detention centre does not have rehabilitation and development programmes necessary for sentenced offenders as it is strictly designed for awaiting trial detainees.”

Strict bail conditions

Pistorius was originally sentenced to five years for culpable homicide for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day on February 14 2013.

In November 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned his culpable homicide conviction and, finding in favour of the State, replaced it with murder.

He had to be placed on bail again and the conditions were more strict than his correctional supervision conditions.

He was eventually sentenced to six years in prison.

Nxumalo said an upgrade to install bathtubs at the Atteridgeville prison, which had been in the pipeline for some time, was done in May to allow disabled prisoners to be accommodated.

“These upgrades were not strictly made for Mr Pistorius, but to accommodate disabled offenders under Kgosi Mampuru II Management Area. Furthermore, the upgrades were done long before the management considered moving Mr Pistorius to Atteridgeville,” he said.

Pistorius was transferred “purely due to his application which was lawfully and procedurally considered and approved”, Nxumalo said.

“The move will enable Mr Pistorius to engage in departmental rehabilitation programmes which are tailored according to the offenders’ needs and length of his sentence. These programmes are key in terms of rehabilitating the offending behaviour and do play a crucial role when one is considered for parole placement.”

This article first appeared on News24, see here.