SABC to air Reeva's final act
2013-02-16 14:31
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Johannesburg – SABC will screen a reality TV show
featuring the dead model girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius, it said on Saturday,
two days after she was shot and killed at the home of the double-amputee
athlete and Paralympic superstar.
In a statement, SABC said it will air the Tropika Island of
Treasure programme "which features the late Reeva Steenkamp" on
Saturday evening.
Pistorius was arrested and charged with the Valentine's
Day murder of Steenkamp, who was shot multiple times in the predawn hours of
Thursday at Pistorius' house in Pretoria.
Reeva's cousin, Sharon Steenkamp, told AP on Saturday that the family had not been
consulted by anyone from the show or SABC, but they were not against it being
aired because Reeva "was proud of being in the show”.
"Her last words to us personally were that she wants
us to watch it," Sharon Steenkamp said.
The show's executive producer, Samantha Moon, also said
that the family wanted the show to go ahead.
"They want it on," said Moon, who works for
production company Stimulii.
"This is how they want to remember her. This is what
she would have wanted."
SABC said the show, where the 30-year-old model and law
graduate was expected to be seen laughing and smiling with other contestants
and being interviewed by presenters, would also act as a tribute to Steenkamp.
"Definitely the SABC is going ahead with the airing
of the programme today," spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said, "and we
have indicated that we will put massages of condolences on the programme”.
A Steenkamp family spokesperson said on Friday that
relatives still faced a long struggle to come to terms with her killing.
"I can't see the family getting over this
shortly," Reeva's uncle, Mike Steenkamp said. "It's going to be a
long, long-term reconciliation with a lot of things and issues."
Mike Steenkamp said there would be a memorial service for
Reeva in her home town of Port Elizabeth.
"Reeva's casket is being brought to PE,” he said.
Visit News24's Oscar Pistorius Special Report.
- AP
