Oscar Pistorius could soon be a free man as his parole hearing will be heard next week after the convicted murderer completes the minimum required sentence to be considered for parole.

Pistorius is serving a 13-year and five-month sentence after his culpable homicide conviction was overturned to murder in 2016. This after he had shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp on February 14, 2013, claiming he thought she was an intruder.

The “Blade Runner” had lost his bid for parole earlier this year. However, the Constitutional Court recently ruled that his sentence should be backdated to July 6, 2016, pushing forward his eligibility for parole.

Pistorius’ lawyer Conrad Dormehl confirmed that the parole hearing will be heard next week on Friday.

“The hearing will be on November 24. We are glad it’s come to the fore and happy we have a date for parole consideration. As for the process itself, I cannot say much. We are still in the process of making submissions and not sure how the parole board is dealing with it,” he said.

The Department of Correctional Services had argued that Pistorius had not yet served his minimum sentence to be eligible for parole. However, the ConCourt decided there was nothing to prevent his parole bid from being heard.

Dormehl said it is uncertain when Pistorius will finally be a free man as the process is dictated by the Department of Correctional Services.

“The parole board takes into account what we call business reports, submissions that a person entitled to parole makes and those made by the victims, as well as other information. Once they have all of that together, then they decide on granting parole.

“The second consideration is the conditions attached to it, assuming it’s granted, such as the date of release and other corrective measures.”

Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said the department will announce once the sitting is confirmed.

“The department will issue an alert the moment the parole board confirms the sitting date,” he said.

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