‘Her spirit is still with us’
The mother of Reeva Steenkamp, who was killed by Oscar Pistorius, reveals her heartbreak
to be enough hours in the day and that helps. I definitely could not have got through it without Barry.”
Controversially, it was revealed that the Steenkamps had received monthly payments of £345 from Pistorius from March 2013 until the end of the trial, which went towards rent and living expenses, but June says they’re determined to pay it all back.
She says she and her husband, who went bankrupt several years ago, would not have been able to see the trial through, had it not been for those payments.
“We didn’t want to receive it but we didn’t have any choice. We were bankrupt, struggling from day to day. It was a temporary thing and all the money is going back to him. We are paying every cent back.
“They made offers (Pistorius made a separate offer of a £21,000 lump sum) which we didn’t want to receive, because it’s blood money. Reeva was priceless. No money in the world is going to make up for her loss. I’ll never forget the way he did it. We both have nightmares about it, about her being trapped in that little space.
“Why didn’t he just leave her and let her go? She was packed ready to go. Texts that were read out in court highlighted their irritation with each other.”
But she doesn’t want to harbour anger about his sentencing.
“In a way, it’s not right, but I think he’s suffered a lot already. Nothing’s going to bring my daughter back so it doesn’t matter. He’s paying something in that he’s locked up.”
Today, she is recognised in her local town wherever she goes. “Especially in Woolworths,” she says warmly. “I can’t get away without about 20 hugs and kisses when I go there.
“Some women come up and just cry. They feel so sorry for me. They’ve got daughters and don’t know what it would be like if they lost one.”
Her daughter’s spirit keeps her going, she says.
“Reeva won’t want to look down on my crying all the time,” she reflects. “Her advice would be to get on with what we’re doing.”