Pretoria - The cash-strapped parents of Reeva Steenkamp have received a monthly payment of R6 000 from Oscar Pistorius for the past 19 months.
However, it emerged on Tuesday that June Steenkamp had said she did not want “blood money” and they are prepared to pay it all back.
Earlier, the Steenkamps also rejected R375 000 offered to them by Pistorius.
The monthly payments came into the open on Tuesday during the testimony of the defence’s fourth witness, probation officer Annette Vergeer.
She took the stand in the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, after she was asked by the defence to look into alternative options of sentencing that would exclude jail time.
Vergeer, who admitted that she was being paid by the defence, insisted that jail was not an option, as it would “break” the already emotionally frail Pistorius.
He had shown a lot of remorse and took full responsibility for last year’s Valentine’s Day killing of Steenkamp, she said.
Vergeer said his punishment started the day Steenkamp was hit by the bullets he fired through the locked toilet door, and would continue for the rest of his life.
Steenkamp’s parents– Barry and June, sitting in the court’s front row – remained stony-faced during Vergeer’s testimony. She said she had tried to speak to the Steenkamp family to obtain their input before she compiled her report on sentencing options. But they refused and turned her down.
The Steenkamps’ lawyer, Dup de Bruyn, told Vergeer the family’s stance on Pistorius was neutral and they did not want to become involved in the sentencing options.
Vergeer said Pistorius had on various occasions expressed his remorse for causing Steenkamp’s death and had tendered an apology to her family.
His “voluntary” payment of a monthly amount to her parents was indicative of his remorse and he had offered to pay even more, she said.
During cross-examination, prosecutor Gerrie Nel admitted that the Steenkamps had received a monthly payment, but said June had made it clear she was not prepared to take “blood money”.
Nel said: “I want to put it on record that the money will be paid back. Every cent.”
This was after Nel had had a word with De Bruyn during the lunch break. De Bruyn also told the media that Pistorius had offered the family a lump sum, but they rejected it.
He also admitted that Pistorius had made the monthly payments, starting in March last year – about two weeks after Reeva was killed.
De Bruyn said the family needed the money at the time, but said they were now prepared to pay it back.
Shortly after Steenkamp’s death, her parents instituted a multimillion-rand claim against Pistorius for loss of income and the emotional trauma they had suffered after her death. At the time, his lawyers were discussing an out-of-court settlement with the Steenkamps.
It is not known what happened during the discussions, but on Tuesday De Bruyn said the family were not expected to institute another damages claim against Pistorius.
Pistorius is now himself cash-strapped and he had to sell his Silverwoods Country Estate home, east of Pretoria, where Steenkamp was shot. He also had to sell his other properties, mainly in Equestria, to foot his multimillion-rand legal bill.
Vergeer is the second witness to suggest correctional supervision would be the best option for Pistorius. Another Correctional Services official suggested earlier that Pistorius could do community service.
Vergeer said apart from jail not catering for Pistorius’s disability, he would be subjected to rape, gangs and the possibility of contracting HIV in prison. “Without his prostheses, he is vulnerable.”
Pretoria News