There must be few more stark situational contrasts possible for a professional athlete, than the one between winning Paralympic gold, and carrying out janitorial duties at a small suburban church.
But in the wake of Oscar Pistorius‘ horrific murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013, it is hard to imagine that the disgraced former athlete will ever recover any semblance of his old life.
Once feted internationally for his record-breaking on the track, a frequenter of Johannesburg nightclubs, and habitue of magazine covers and talk shows, the 37-year-old is now scarcely recognisable to anyone familiar with his meteoric sprinting success.
Released from Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria on parole in January after serving just half of his 2016 sentence, to those who encounter Pistorius volunteering at NG Kerk Waterkloof, a Dutch Reformed Church five streets from his new home, he seems more ghost than human.
‘He’s not friendly, not outgoing,’ one parishoner told the New York Post on Wednesday. ‘I don’t know if I’ve ever seen him crack a smile. He’s just a shadow of what he once was’.
Oscar Pistorius was freed on parole in January after spending seven-and-a-half years in jail (pictured at his 2016 sentencing)
The former athlete was convicted for the murder of his late girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013
The 37-year-old now works at his local Dutch Reformed Church in the upmarket suburb of Waterkloof
The church where Pistorius is the centre of his working life in 2024. Registered as his place of work in his parole paperwork, Pistorius carries out light maintenance and janitorial work, when not attending services.
After news broke of his release on parole earlier this year, it was reported that his duties at the church might extend to sweeping the floors, and parking cars ahead of Sunday services.
Since his first trial in 2014, when Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide – later overturned in favour of murder – after shooting and killing Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door at his Pretoria home, the former athlete has leaned heavily on his faith. He often brought a rosary to court, and was pictured reading ‘Breakthrough Prayer: The Power of Connecting with the Heart of God’ by Jim Cymbal during breaks.
On the witness stand, it recurred as a theme as he told the court that faith was ‘the thing that has got me through this past year’, and discussed Steenkamp’s faith, sharing how they would pray together before meals and how she would pray ‘about my training’.
During his time in prison he started a Bible study group and led prayer meetings, and reports circulated around the time of his release that he was mulling the idea of becoming a preacher.
Pistorius carries out light maintenance work and volunteer duties as well as attending services
His uncle Arnold Pistorius (right) is a hugely influential figure in his life, and Pistorius now lives with him
Arnold and his wife Lois first began to play a key role in Pistorius’ upbringing following the death of his mother Sheila (pictured with his father Henke)
But his connection to NG Kerk Waterkloof runs even deeper, with the church frequented by perhaps the most influential figure in his life, his uncle Arnold Pistorius.
More than that, Arnold has been a quasi-father figure to Pistorius since his youth, having taken responsibility for him and siblings Aimee and Carl in the wake of the death of his mother Sheila when he was just 15.
Pistorius first started lodging at Arnold’s luxury Waterkloof home when he was released on bail prior to his conviction, and already showing signs of the paranoia and reclusivity that now shape his life post-prison. Then, Pistorius was concerned with staying away from windows to avoid being killed by an imagined assassin’s bullet. Since his conviction, those concerns have only ossified, and not without reason.
Police in Johannesburg are believed to have received information suggesting that the city’s gangs are out for revenge, and Mail Sport was told that Pistorius ‘will never be able to go anywhere for the rest of his life without looking over his shoulder’ – such is the repellant nature of his crime.
The Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria was Pistorius’ home for a large portion of his time behind bars
He now lives at his uncle’s three-storey mansion, which was previously a Dutch Reformed Church rectory
Private security looms large in the affluent suburb, which is home to a number of diplomats
Security at Arnold’s home reflects that. As is all too common in the city’s upmarket suburbs, there is a constant presence guarding the mansions. In a community where some houses can fetch up to £10million, electric fences ring ever property, there are reports of roaming ‘attack dogs’, and security guards pace the quiet streets.
If the atmosphere outside the gates of Pistorius’ new home is war-like, inside paints a lavish contrast. Waterkloof, a Pretorian suburb, is one of the most rarefied of its kind.
Local real estate agent Ria de Clerq told Times Live in 2014 that ‘no other suburb personifies «old money» and everything good that goes with affluence’. Arnold, like a number of branches of the Pistorius family, is wealthy, having made his money largely in the development and letting of commercial properties – and he has the 24-room mansion to prove it.
The disgraced Olympian lives in a garden cottage on the property’s manicured grounds – which also feature landscaped gardens and a swimming pool – an environment also seemingly at odds with the somewhat monastic existence he has during working hours.
But even inside the property, Pistorius has his defences. His sister Aimee is believed to have moved back from London to live with him and help him readjust to life on the outside. And few have been more vocal than the man who has taken him in. Arnold – who is the brother of Pistorius’ estranged father Henke – was an outspoken presence throughout his nephew’s trial and in the intervening years.
Pistorius is thought to live in a cottage on the grounds, which also contain a swimming pool
The extensive grounds have views over Pretoria – but Pistorius is thought to spend most of his time in his bedroom
Shortly after Pistorius’ 2013 arrest, Arnold was adamant in an interview with the BBC that his nephew was ‘not a criminal’, but a ‘good-hearted, soft-natured person’ with a ‘broken heart’.
‘We want to rebuild him,’ the deeply religious Arnold added. ‘His supporters also want to assist him, as his family, to try and get back some of the old Oscar we had in the past.’
11 years later, the thought feels an impossible one. Despite having his freedom, Pistorius remains penned in by the restrictions of his parole conditions, which will continue until the end of his sentence in 2029. These include maintaining specific hours of when he has to return home, bans on using illicit substances and drinking alcohol, and undergoing therapy for anger issues and on the subject of gender-based violence.
Pistorius also has a monitoring official to keep up with any changes he might want to make to his work or life set-up. Pertinently, Pistorius is also banned from giving interviews or writing a memoir, enforcing the continued veil of silence over his life post-release.
He is banned too from contacting the Steenkamps. Both of Steenkamps’ parents, Barry and June, were adamantly against his early release, with Barry having previously met with Pistorius in 2022 as part of South Africa’s victim-offender dialogue programme.
Barry was felt that Pistorius had ‘wasted his time’ by failing to admit that he had shot Reeva ‘deliberately’ and ‘in anger’. Earlier this year, June shared that her husband had succumbed to poor health and ‘died of a broken heart’. She was, however, clear about having forgiven Pistorius.
Steenkamp’s parents Barry and June believed that Pistorius should not be released early
June has spoken often about how her daughter’s murder at the hands of Pistorius robbed her of her future
The family issued a poignant statement in the wake of Pistorius’ release in January (pictured in 2023)
‘My Christianity requires me to forgive,’ June stressed to MailOnline. ‘I forgave Oscar a long time ago. I forgive for my own sake, not for his.
‘Forgiveness does not mean he must not pay for what he has done. Oscar did not only take Reeva’s life when he killed Reeva in cold blood, he also took Barry and my life. Our joy, our future grandchildren.’
Another aspect of the ‘old Oscar’ that Pistorius will likely never be able to claw back is any connection to his former career. The six-time Paralympic gold medal-winner is believed to have reached out to two members of the International Paralympic Committee upon his release in the hope of reforging ties. Their response was definitive.
‘He’s too toxic to work with now,’ one member shared. ‘There’s nothing for him here.’
There is no possibility he will return to the track. As well as being in contravention of a number of competition requirements and lacking ability to move freely and travel, Pistorius is out of shape after years in prison. He is also said to be a chain smoker.
‘I almost didn’t recognise him,’ another NG Kerk Watercloof parishoner, Aida Govender, said. ‘His hair is longer and he’s got a beard. He’s also not as lean as I expected.
‘You would never know he was an athlete; he’s just not the same.’
In January, MailOnline reported that his famous ‘blade runner’ prosthetic legs no longer fit him, with Pistorius having become ‘overweight’ behind bars.
Rather than exercising, he is said to spend much of his time holed up in Arnold’s home in his bedroom, playing video games, or watching Premier League football on television. He is thought to suffer from anxiety, which further reduces his contact with the outside world.
June described her husband of having died of a ‘broken heart’ last September in the wake of their daughter’s murder
Private security patrolled the Pistorius house ahead of the disgraced Paralympian’s release
Pistorius is thought to have become out of shape and taken up smoking while behind bars
What Pistorius does have, however, is his life and his freedom, as June Steenkamp stated poignantly in a missive on the day of his release.
‘Has there been justice for Reeva?’ the statement read. ‘Has Oscar served enough time?
‘There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back.
‘We who remain behind are the ones serving a life sentence.’
