Leaked CCTV footage showing Reeva Steenkamp arriving at Silver Woods Country Estate in Pretoria hours before she was killed has been aired on television.
Steenkamp was shot dead at her boyfriend, Oscar Pistorius’s home at the estate in the early hours of February 14. Pistorius has admitted that he pulled the trigger, and will stand trial later this year.
On Monday Steenkamp’s cousin, Sharon, provided an update on Reeva’s parents Barry and June Steenkamp.
“They’re doing okay – taking it one day at a time at the moment. Obviously they are still hurting a lot, but life carries on,” she said.
The audioless CCTV footage, a centrepiece of the Carte Blanche feature on Sunday, was recorded at the entrance to the estate.
Steenkamp is seen pulling up to the checkpoint in a Mini Cooper. The driver’s window is open, her elbow is resting on the sill and she is leaning her head on the palm of her hand. As a security guard opens the gate, he momentarily blocks her from view.
When the footage shows her again, she appears to be exchanging a joke with another security guard. It seems as though he is asking her a question. She looks at him with a stern expression as she says something in response, before both of them laugh. As she drives away, the security guard waves and laughs.
The feature also included an emotional interview with her parents, conducted the day after her memorial service.
The interview opens with Steenkamp’s mother, June, talking of the moment she learnt of her daughter’s death. She is close to tears as she talks.
”I had a phone call at 7.30am that morning. And the man said to me, 'Is your... what's your name?' And I said, 'It's June.' And he said: 'Do you have a daughter?' And I said, 'Yes.' And he said: 'Reeva?' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'There's been an accident and she's been shot.' And I said, 'All I want to know now is if she's alive or is she dead.' And the man said he was with the police, and he said, 'I'm sorry I have to tell you, but I don't want you to go out and read in the papers... she's dead.'“
Later, presenter Derek Watts directs a question at Steenkamp’s father. He asks him how he copes, at which point the camera focuses on him as his eyes fill with tears. He appears unable to respond.
“He doesn’t cope. He can’t cope,” his wife says.
Steenkamp’s parents also talk of watching the first episode of Tropika Island of Treasure, the SABC1 reality TV show featuring Reeva. It was aired three days after her death.
“I watched it. I had to... just to see her laughing, you know, and alive,” June Steenkamp said.