National
Reeva's parents support NPA bid to appeal Pistorius sentence─── 15:22 Thu, 21 Jul 2016
Johannesburg - Reeva Steenkamp’s parents on Thursday expressed their support for prosecutor Gerrie Nel and his team in their bid to appeal Oscar Pistorius’s six-year jail sentence.
The family said in a statement that they had not influenced the State’s decision to appeal the sentence.
The National Prosecuting Authority announced earlier on Thursday that it would appeal Pistorius's "shockingly too lenient" jail sentence for murdering Reeva on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
The Steenkamps said they intended focusing their energy on the upcoming launch of the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation on August 19, her 33rd birthday.
"Reeva was killed on the same morning she was due to deliver a speech against the abuse of women‚ at a school in Johannesburg."
Reeva's mother June wanted to be her daughter’s voice and continue educating women about domestic violence and abuse, and empower them.
Pistorius was sentenced to six years in prison on July 6 for murdering Steenkamp.
He was initially convicted of culpable homicide and received a five-year jail sentence. The NPA appealed. In December last year, the Supreme Court of Appeal overturned the culpable homicide conviction and replaced it with a verdict of murder. It ordered Judge Thokozila Masipa to sentence him afresh.
