Eastern Cape - The father of model Reeva Steenkamp, who was allegedly murdered by Oscar Pistorius, spoke movingly on Sunday of his family’s grief and said he bore the athlete no animosity.
In an emotional interview with The Mail on Sunday, Barry Steenkamp said he was struggling “to find some reason why this happened to our lovely daughter”.
Last week, Pistorius broke down in tears in court when he was formally charged with Reeva’s premeditated murder
“He must be going through things that we don’t know about. There is no hatred in our hearts.”
Reeva, 29, had been dating the Olympic athlete since November.
She was shot dead in the early hours of Valentine’s Day at Pistorius’s gated mansion in Pretoria.
It has been reported she was hit four times by bullets fired through the door of a bathroom.
Pistorius, 26, a keen marksman, owned a pistol and machine gun.
Sources told how he carried his dying girlfriend from the bathroom, her blood splattering the staircase, as he desperately tried to revive her.
The pair were called South Africa’s “golden couple”, and the arrest of Pistorius – who last year became the first man to compete at both the Olympics and Paralympics – was met with disbelief.
Speaking for the first time since the death of his law graduate daughter, Barry Steenkamp, a horse trainer, wept as he said he and his wife, June, were at “a complete loss”.
He said: “This is a very difficult time for us. June is inconsolable. We just need to find some answers.
“We ask the Lord every day to help us find a reason why this should happen to Reeva.
“She was the most beautiful, kind girl in the world. She had love for everyone, and she was loved by everyone who knew her.”
Steenkamp said he had never met Pistorius, but that his wife occasionally spoke to him on the phone.
On the day of the killing, Reeva had been due to give a talk to high school pupils “to empower them to be confident”.
Her father said: “That’s what she was like, always wanting to help others.”
Former girlfriends of the Paralympian have publicly suggested he has a dark side.
One, 26-year-old student Samantha Taylor, said he is “certainly not what people think he is”.
The Mail on Sunday learnt that Taylor was warned to expect a subpoena forcing her to give evidence at Pistorius’s trial.
Reeva appeared on the TV programme Tropika Island of Treasure on Saturday night, which sees celebrities paired with contestants competing for a cash prize.
Executive producer Samantha Moon claimed the programme had the blessing of Reeva’s family.
She said: “This is how they want to remember her.”
Reeva’s funeral will be held on Tuesday, the same day Pistorius is due in court, where it is understood lawyers will argue the shooting was a tragic accident. – Mail on Sunday