140616 PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 14: June Steenkamp, mother of murdered Reeva Steenkamp listens as her husband Barry Steenkamp gives evidence in the Oscar Pistorius sentencing case on Tuesday June 14, 2016 in Pretoria, South Africa. Having had Oscar Pistorius' conviction upgraded to murder in December 2015, Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius is attending his sentencing hearing and could be returning to jail for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14, 2013. Photo by Deaan Vivier/Media24 - Pool 140616 PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 14: June Steenkamp, mother of murdered Reeva Steenkamp listens as her husband Barry Steenkamp gives evidence in the Oscar Pistorius sentencing case on Tuesday June 14, 2016 in Pretoria, South Africa. Having had Oscar Pistorius' conviction upgraded to murder in December 2015, Paralympian athlete Oscar Pistorius is attending his sentencing hearing and could be returning to jail for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on February 14, 2013. Photo by Deaan Vivier/Media24 - Pool
Zelda Venter
“SHE MUST have been in such pain and fear. I think about it all the time… I visualise that. I can see it myself.”
This was the heart-rending evidence of Barry Steenkamp, father of murdered Reeva Steenkamp, the first witness to testify in the high court in Pretoria yesterday on behalf of the State in the re-sentencing proceedings of Oscar Pistorius.
The disgraced former athlete sat with his hands covering his ears, shaking as he cried, while listening to the emotional evidence of the 73-year-old man.
People cried openly in the public gallery, including Reeva’s best friend Gina Mayers, while her mother June Steenkamp looked worriedly at her husband, who was trembling with emotion.
Steenkamp said his doctor earlier advised him against travelling to Pretoria to take the stand during the first round of sentencing.
“But I must now give evidence. I think of Reeva every day of my life; morning, noon and night. I talk to her every day. I spend most of my time on the veranda. At 2am or 3am I sit there, looking at my phone.
“Virtually every day, I get messages of support on Facebook, and pictures. I have a few hundred messages and pictures (of Reeva) which I look at every day.
“I don’t wish this on any human being; on anyone in this whole world. It devastated us. I ended up having a stroke.
“We were so proud of her. She helped herself through university and finished her studies with distinctions.”
Reeva had then relocated to Gauteng to further her modelling career, and aimed one day to open her own business and take care of her parents.
Steenkamp said the day of Reeva’s murder changed everything. He was out training race horses when his wife phoned and told him to return home immediately. At first he thought one of their animals had been killed, but he realised June mentioned Reeva’s name, and knew she was dead.
Asked about his understanding of what happened in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013 when Pistorius fired four shots into the bathroom door behind which Reeva was hiding, he said: “I think there was an argument.”
Shaking and crying, the father demonstrated how he tried to stab himself with his diabetes needles, hitting against walls to try to feel the pain Reeva must have felt.
Steenkamp said he only saw one picture – in court – of Reeva’s wounds.
“I saw only one, but I can imagine what it was like. I want the world to see the wounds inflicted on her, the pain she must have gone through. I want this to stop others in future.”
Christmas and birthdays were especially difficult for the family said. There was always a setting at the table for Reeva.
Steenkamp told the court the family had not contacted Pistorius, before or after the killing. Reeva also never told them about the relationship.
Pistorius, through his lawyers, tried to contact the family after the murder and wrote letters, but the Steenkamps were not ready to meet him.
He said he was disgusted when details of financial assistance by Pistorius emerged during the trial as he had been told it was confidential.
Through his lawyers Pistorius arranged to pay a small monthly amount to Reeva’s parents, but when he offered them R360 000, the family declined it.
Steenkamp said he had heard his wife June cry every night, calling Reeva’s name.
Pistorius’s counsel Barry Roux hardly had any questions for the grieving father.
“We are very, very sorry. We can never bring her back,” he said, adding that his client tried to apologise personally.
“June has forgiven him, but it does not mean he is exonerated. It has been very difficult for me to forgive. I feel he has to pay for what he did.
“The time will come when I will want to talk to Oscar, but the time is not now,” said Steenkamp.