18th February, 2013
The family of Reeva Steenkamp says her body is back in her hometown of Port Elizabeth and a private funeral has been planned for tomorrow.
Adam Steenkamp, the late model and law graduate’s brother, says “Reeva is back home”.
The family said on Sunday that Steenkamp, who was shot dead inside boyfriend Oscar Pistorius’ house in the early hours of last Thursday, will be cremated in a ceremony closed to the public and the media in the city on South Africa’s southern coast.
Pistorius was charged with her murder and is expected to make a court appearance tomorrow for his bail hearing.
The 29-year-old Reeva was seen laughing and smiling on South African television yesterday night after national broadcaster SABC chose to air the first episode of a reality TV show she featured in.
Her family said it did not oppose the programme being aired because Steenkamp wanted people to see it and a short tribute to her was shown before the episode.
A fellow contestant on the Tropika Island of Treasure 5 show told AP Television News that Steenkamp “was always making sure everyone was OK”.
“Fun, crazy, loving, beautiful, gorgeous. She really was an angel and I still haven’t come to terms with what happened,” Katleho Molai said of Steenkamp. “I haven’t really eaten, I’m struggling to sleep. So it’s been really hard to come to terms with what’s happened to her.”
Meanwhile, South African police have found a bloodied cricket bat at the home of Oscar Pistorius, a local newspaper reported Sunday, following the Valentine’s Day killing of his model girlfriend. Police sources close to the investigation told the independent City Press newspaper that Steenkamp’s skull had been “crushed”.
“There was lots of blood on the bat,” one source told the paper.
Police are investigating whether the bat was used to assault Steenkamp, who was shot four times in the early hours of Thursday, or if she used it to defend herself.
Police have dismissed initial suggestions that Pistorius, 26, could have mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder, and City Press said she was wearing a nightie at the time of the killing.