International News
JUST IN: Oscar Pistorius Granted Parole 11 Years After Killing Girlfriend
South Africa’s ex-Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius was granted early release from prison on Friday, a decade after he fatally shot his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in a crime that gripped the world, prison authorities said.
A parole board reviewing whether Pistorius, 37, was fit for social reintegration decided to place him on parole from January 5, the Department of Correctional Services said.
“Mr Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires”.
Earlier Steenkamp’s mother told the parole hearing that she did not believe the ex-athlete was rehabilitated for he had not shown true remorse.
“Rehabilitation requires someone to engage honestly, with the full truth of his crime and the consequences thereof. Nobody can claim to have remorse if they’re not able to engage fully with the truth,” June Steenkamp said in a statement to the board.
But her spokesman told the board she was not opposing parole for Pistorius.
The hearing held at a correctional centre outside Pretoria where he is currently detained, was Pistorius’s second shot at parole in less than eight months.
He lost a first bid in March when the board found Pistorius had not completed the minimum detention period required to be let out.
The Constitutional Court last month ruled that was a mistake, paving the way for a new hearing.
Pistorius killed Steenkamp, a model, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013, firing four times through the bathroom door of his ultra-secure Pretoria house.
Known worldwide as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre prosthetics, he was found guilty of murder and given a 13-year jail sentence in 2017 after a lengthy trial and several appeals.
He had pleaded not guilty and denied killing Steenkamp in a rage, saying he mistook her for a burglar.
– My child ‘screamed for life’ –
But June Steenkamp said she does not believe him.
“I do not believe Oscar’s version,” she said in her submission to the board that was read to the media outside the detention centre by a family spokesman.
“My dear child screamed for her life loud enough for the neighbours to hear her. I do not know what gave rise to his choice to shoot through a closed door four times at somebody with hollow-point ammunition when I believe he knew it was Reeva.”
Nevertheless, she said she forgave the former sprinter “long ago, as I knew most certainly that I would not be able to survive if I had to cling to my anger.”
As part of his rehabilitation, Pistorius met Steenkamp’s parents last year, in a process authorities said aims to ensure inmates “acknowledge the harm they have caused”.
June Steenkamp was not present at the parole hearing on Friday and was being represented by a family spokesman and a lawyer.
Steenkamp’s father Barry died in September aged 80.
“I’ve no doubt that he died of a broken heart,” the widow said in her statement.
Family spokesman Rob Matthews said it was going to be very difficult for June Steenkamp to attend the proceedings given what she had recently gone through.
“It’s been a real tough road that June has travelled… in March there was a parole hearing and it took all her courage to attend that,” he said.
Offenders in South Africa are automatically eligible for parole consideration after serving half of their sentence.
The board, normally made up of correctional services and community members, assesses whether an inmate still poses a danger to society.
This takes into account the seriousness of the offence as well as Pistorius’s behaviour behind bars.
Release usually comes with some conditions, such as monitoring from authorities and duty to report to a community correction centre.
German authorities deported at least 137 Nigerian citizens across five chartered flights between February and June 2026, according to migration monitoring reports.
Data from the DERS Team and Refugees4refugees.org shows the deportations occurred in phases, with 27 Nigerians returned in February, 37 in March through a joint European Union operation, 24 in April, 23 in May, and 26 in June.
The February operation departed from Stuttgart and landed at Lagos Cargo Airport, with Baden-Württemberg listed as a primary participant. The March operation represented the largest single return of Nigerians recorded over three years and was executed in collaboration with Spain, Austria, and Belgium.
The reports indicate a growing reliance on multi-national chartered flights by European states to repatriate undocumented or non-resident individuals to Nigeria.
The United States has condemned the killing of members of the family of Plateau-based cleric, Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo, describing the attack as horrific and urging Nigerian authorities to ensure those responsible are brought to justice.
In a statement shared on X on Thursday, the US Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs expressed condolences to the victims’ families and called for stronger measures to prevent further attacks on vulnerable communities across Nigeria’s Middle Belt.
“The United States strongly condemns the horrific killing of members of Rev. Ezekiel Dachomo’s family in Plateau State, Nigeria. The continued violence targeting Christian communities and other vulnerable populations in Nigeria’s Middle Belt is deeply alarming,” the bureau said
The US said it had already engaged Nigerian officials on the worsening security situation, stressing that urgent action was needed to curb recurring attacks and hold perpetrators accountable.
“As I discussed last week with Nigerian officials, we must do more to prevent violent acts. The perpetrators must be held accountable, and urgent action is needed to strengthen security and protect Christians and other vulnerable communities,” the statement added.
The bureau reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to working with the Nigerian government to combat terrorism and violent extremism, stressing that Christians and other Nigerians should be able to practise their faith without fear of violence.
The statement followed the July 12 attack on Kum community in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State, where nine members of Rev. Dachomo’s extended family, including a two-month-old baby, were killed.
According to the cleric, the attackers, believed to be armed Fulani militias, asked for him by name before opening fire on his relatives.
Dachomo, who serves as Regional Chairman of the Church of Christ in Nations (COCIN) in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, said his family had repeatedly been targeted because of his outspoken criticism of the violence in Plateau State.
He recalled that his grandmother and an uncle were also killed in previous attacks, adding that days after burying his relatives, he received a written death threat from the same group, warning that he would be their next target.
Saudi Arabia has updated its tourist eVisa programme for 2026, limiting eligibility in Africa to only three countries as part of its list of 66 nations whose citizens can apply through the Kingdom’s online visa platform.
The move leaves most African countries, including Nigeria, outside the simplified entry scheme.
The electronic visa allows eligible travellers to visit Saudi Arabia for tourism, leisure activities, family visits and Umrah, excluding the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Applications are completed online, eliminating the need for embassy visits and lengthy visa processing.
Saudi authorities said the eVisa forms part of ongoing efforts to expand tourism, attract international visitors and simplify travel procedures through a fully digital application system. The visa is available only to citizens of approved countries and territories listed on the Kingdom’s official tourism portal.
Below is the list of African countries eligible for Saudi Arabia’s eVisa.
1. Mauritius
2. Seychelles
3. South Africa
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