Steenkamps won't attend Pistorius trial
2013-03-08 08:59
Cape Town - Reeva Steenkamp's uncle and cousin have spoken
about how they are coping with the loss of the model, saying they won't attend
the trial of Oscar Pistorius, who is accused of murdering her on Valentine's
Day.
In an interview on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN broadcast on Thursday,
Mike Steenkamp said her death "hasn't really sunk in to my way of
thinking".
The family wanted to focus on Reeva, and not why she's gone,
he said, which is why they won't attend the trial.
He added that it didn't matter to them what happened to
Pistorius, as nothing will bring her back.
'Seemed like a nice guy'
Reeva's cousin, Kim Martin explained: "I have to
concentrate on her. I know that sounds crazy, but that's how I get from day to
day.
"It's easier to deal with it if you don't concentrate
on anything else other than the fact that Reeva's not here, and at the end of
the day, she's not coming back."
She added that she was as close as a sister to Reeva, and
there were no secrets between them.
Martin said she met Pistorius once, in Cape Town on 2
January this year. She says it wasn't long enough to form an opinion on his
personality, but "he did seem like a nice guy".
She added that she didn't think Reeva was in love with
Pistorius. "And I knew that in time she would chat to me about it,"
she said.
This apparently contradicts Pistorius's affidavit and
statements from several people which claimed the couple were in love and that
Reeva may have been "the one".
'Precious daughter'
Steenkamp recalled that despite her fame, Reeva was
still her mother's baby girl.
He recounted an incident in which Reeva's mother, June, had
spoken to Pistorius while he was speeding on the highway.
"She phoned her mom and said to her mom: 'Mom, Oscar is
speeding', so June took the phone and said 'let me speak to Oscar' and said to
him 'Oscar, hey listen: that is my precious and my only daughter, my precious
daughter, and that’s everything. That is my angel, and you better slow down
otherwise I will get the mafia on to you afterwards'’ And Reeva said
afterwards, 'mom, he'd slowed down'."
Steenkamp told CNN that he would like a chance to meet face-to-face
with Pistorius to forgive him.
"That way, I can find more peace with the
situation," he said.
"Whatever the outcome, I feel with my belief [that] if
Christ could forgive me when he died on the cross, why can't I?
