Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius is set to be released under correctional supervision on Tuesday, October 20.
This is according to Tania Koen, the lawyer for the Steenkamp family.
“I was just told a few minutes ago that Oscar will be released on Tuesday,” Koen told IOL on Thursday.
Koen said this news did not shock the family, as they expected him to be released soon.
Correctional Services could not confirm Pistorius’ release at this stage and said the parole board was still meeting while the news of his release broke.
The department said it would issue a statement later on Thursday.
The Paralympian star's lawyers have argued that he should have been released and granted house arrest in August after serving one-sixth of his five-year jail sentence for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
But he remained behind bars after Justice Minister Michael Masutha made a last-minute intervention and the case was referred for review.
After meeting last week, the parole board said it would reconvene on Thursday, adding it wanted to consult with Steenkamp's family over Pistorius's possible release.
Steenkamp's parents say Pistorius killed their daughter on purpose and have previously contested any parole.
“I wish I knew what will happen, but there have been so many surprises in this case that I can't predict anything,” Brian Webber, a lawyer representing Pistorius, told AFP last week.
“I do think correctional services have probably considered how unfairly he has been treated. He should have been released on August 21.”
Pistorius's family have accused officials of bowing to “political and media hype” by denying him parole.
In a trial that made headlines around the world, Pistorius was jailed last year for killing Steenkamp, a model and law graduate.
He was found guilty of culpable homicide after saying he shot her through a locked bathroom door because he mistook her for an intruder.
Even after he is released next week, Pistorius faces a further test on November 3 when prosecutors appeal to the Supreme Court for a murder conviction and a tougher sentence.
AFP and IOL