The mother of the South African model murdered by former Olympic and Paralympic sprinting legend Oscar Pistorius has a chilling warning for his new girlfriend.
“He was angry – and he still has an anger problem,” said June Steenkamp, 78, mother of his ex-girlfriend The sun on Sunday.
The disgraced Olympian, 38, was convicted in 2014 of shooting her daughter, model and law student Reeva Steenkamp, 29, at his South African home on Valentine’s Day 2013.
He was released in January, but was placed on strict parole and had to adhere to certain rules.
Since his release almost a year ago, Pistorius has found love again, according to the South African newspaper Network24.
The outlet revealed that he is dating Rita Greyling, 33, a business management consultant from Wakkerstroom, Mpumalanga, who is a long-term family friend.
Although details about their relationship are being kept private, sources close to the couple confirmed to Netwerk24 last week that they are in a romantic relationship.
Steenkamp’s heartbroken mother has now spoken out since news of her daughter’s killer’s new romance broke and wants his girlfriend to be wary of his ‘red flag’.
“I don’t understand why she doesn’t see a warning sign for him, because he hasn’t lost his temper,” June told The Sun.
“He was supposed to be on anger management when he was in prison and at one point I stopped him from coming out because I was annoyed that he wasn’t getting treatment.”
The mother said she and her husband, Barry, convinced parole chiefs to block the killer’s release twice because they feared he still posed a threat.
June, who founded the Reeva Steenkamp Foundation Against The Abuse of Women and Children, said she still believes Pistorius “is still a danger to women.”
“Reeva only knew him for three months and she was dead and he never confessed,” she said.
“It doesn’t hurt me that he’s with this young woman; I just worry about her,” June added.
The Steenkamp family has always maintained that Reeva was deliberately killed in a fit of rage after fleeing to the bathroom of his home.
During his trial, Pistorius claimed he shot Steenkamp through the bathroom door of his luxury home because he thought she was a burglar.
Pistorius – once an international celebrity who became a household name in 2012 as the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics – was initially sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter, but prosecutors appealed the light sentence and he was resentenced up to 13 years and five months.
The double amputee served more than half of that sentence and spent just nine years behind bars.
After his release, he still maintains that he accidentally killed Reeva.
Since his release, Pistorius has been hidden in his uncle’s fortified compound in Pretoria.
The luxury property in the exclusive suburb of Waterkloof has armed guards, electronic defense systems and reportedly several ‘attack dogs’.
“He is trying to rebuild his life in a quiet way, avoiding bars, restaurants and the general public and flying under the radar,” said a source close to Pistorius, according to Netwerk24.
“He is slowly trying to reintegrate into society, but this is done through families that his family has had a close bond with for decades.”
Pistorius will remain on parole until 2029 and will be subject to checks by the Department of Corrections at any time of the day to monitor his residence test for alcohol and drugs.
The disgraced Olympian is also not allowed to leave the immediate area without informing the local police.
He is also not allowed to have any contact with Reeva’s family.
Three months after being released from prison for killing his Reeva, Pistorius was seen in public for the first time in April.
Now bald, his hair is completely gray. Although he had arrived earlier in prison, Pistorius was noticeably thinner and, according to sources, had shaved off the bushy gray beard he had grown earlier.
