Johannesburg - The Progressive Women's Movement of SA on Thursday welcomed the decision by the justice minister to suspend the release of Paralympian track star Oscar Pistorius on correctional supervision.
“On the issues that happened yesterday [Wednesday] we wanted to make it clear that it was a blessing in disguise that the minister could see our challenges as women,” PWMSA Gauteng co-convenor Jacque Mofokeng said.
Mofokeng said what Justice Minister Michael Masutha said on Wednesday showed that Pistorius had special treatment. “We are not against Oscar getting provision. We just want everyone to be treated fairly.” Mofokeng said.
The minister showed that he is a minister that can work with women, said Mofokeng.
“We aren't against the rule of law. We are wishing that he gets 10 to 15 years with no parole.”
On Wednesday, Masutha said that upon studying the decision by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB) of Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre to release Pistorius, it appeared that there was no sound legal basis for it as the decision appeared to have been made prematurely.
On August 17, Masutha's office received a petition from PWMSA wherein they expressed their opposition to the imminent release of Pistorius.
On Monday, the State filed the heads of argument in its appeal against Pistorius' conviction and five-year sentence for shooting Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door on Valentine's Day 2013.
The State was asking the Supreme Court of Appeal to substitute the conviction of culpable homicide with one of murder. This would mean that, if the appeal is successful, Pistorius's sentence will be substituted with a much heavier one of at least 15 years in prison.
Oscar's defence was that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder when he shot her through a bathroom door of his Pretoria home.
ANA