Pistorius parole hearing postponed for two weeks

The South African National Parole Review board met on Friday in Durban to discuss whether the double-amputee Olympian had any chance of walking out of Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria. On Saturday it announced that Pistorius' case was still under review.

"The parole review board could not complete the roll and had to postpone for two weeks," said correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela.

Legal hurdles

Following the initial approval for his release, Pistorius was widely expected to transfer to house arrest last month.

Pistorius, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison last October after being convicted of culpable homicide, or manslaughter, for shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013. Under South African law, he was eligible for release after serving one-sixth of his sentence in jail - in his case 10 months.

But two days before his expected August 21 release, Justice Minister Michael Masutha ordered a review of Pistorius' case on a technicality, saying his release was approved in June prematurely, before he had served the full length of his minimum 10 months.

Unpromising prospects

Pistorius, known widely as the 'Blade Runner,' has been held in the hospital wing at the Kgosi Mampuru II prison in central Pretoria. If he were to be released, he would likely serve the remainder of his five-year sentence under house arrest at his uncle's house in a gated community in suburban Pretoria.

Even if he were released early from jail, the former star athlete's court battles are far from over. Prosecutors plan to appeal his acquittal for murder at the Supreme Court in November, where he might once again face the possibility of a murder conviction and a 15-year jail sentence for shooting Steenkamp multiple times through a toilet door in his home, whom he said he had mistaken for a burglar.

His trial lasted from March to October 2014, receiving worldwide attention.

(AP, AFP, dpa)