Family and friends of slain model Reeva Steenkamp will share her story, and the impact her untimely death had on their lives in an explosive, tell-all documentary series. Titled My Name Is Reeva, the series will be used to honour her memory.
Steenkamp’s murder left the country in shock when news of it first broke on February of 2013. She was shot and killed by her Paralympian boyfriend Oscar Pistorius. He is currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for the murder at the Atteridgeville Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
Pistorius’ defence argued that he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder when she went to the bathroom at night while staying over at his Silver Lakes Estate home in the east of Pretoria. The incident occurred on Valentines Day, Pistorius claimed he heard a noise in the bathroom, thought it was an intruder and shot at the door multiple times.
On his version of the story, he only realised it was Reeva when he kicked the door open and discovered her lifeless body. Pistorius attempted to resuscitate her but she died in his arms.
He was first convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, but this was upgraded to murder in 2015. He was sentenced to six years imprisonment by the Pretoria High Court in 2017, but this was increased to 13 years when the Supreme Court of Appeal intervened and increased his sentence.
There are rumours that Pistorius has become a spiritual leader while behind bars, as he leads Bible studies classes and explains verses to other inmates once a week.
The docu-series is being crowd-funded by platorm Uprise.Africa and is being directed and co-produced by Warren Batchelor, and Tony Miguel. It will delve into the personal story of Steenkamp through the eyes of her loved ones.
“Through this documentary, we are determined to tell Reeva’s story; people will get to see another side that seeks to answer some of the questions that have been left unanswered, the truth and who Reeva was. She would want us to do this for her,” said her mother June Steenkamp in a statement.
Tabassum Qadir, CEO of Uprise.Africa, said the docu-series will also serve as a birthday gift to Reeva on what would have been her 34th birthday on August 19. “The funding will be open to private funders during the launch and will be open to the public in due course.”
Picture: Twitter
