Tania Koen, who represents the Steenkamp family, told SABC: “I have received a call from correctional services to confirm he will be released on October 20”.
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Asked for the Steenkamp family’s reaction, Koen said: “They don’t feel any different, nothing has changed in their lives”.
It is unclear how long Pistorius will remain under house arrest and if he has any plans of resuming his athletic career thereafter; however, it is unlikely he will ever possess the same luster he did prior to the events of February 14, 2013.
During the sentencing, his defense team believed he would be eligible to transfer to house arrest on August 21 – 10 months after he was sentenced.
An earlier decision to release him in August was blocked by South Africa’s Justice Minister Michael Masutha saying it had been made “prematurely”.
The Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Supervision and Parole Board made the announcement on Thursday.
After meeting last week, the parole board said it would reconvene on Thursday, adding it wanted to consult with Steenkamp’s family over Pistorius’s possible release.
Pistorius had claimed he mistook her for an intruder.
The killing stunned the nation, where the famous athlete is nicknamed the “Blade Runner” because he ran on special carbon-fiber prostheses.
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Prosecutors are appealing the culpable homicide verdict, arguing it should be murder because Pistorius must have known that the person behind the door could be killed.
