South Africa woke up to shocking news that a famous model Reeva Steenkamp was murdered by her boyfriend and paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius on the 14th of February in 2013. Pistorious’ protracted trial made global headlines and was subject to public scrutiny. MNet announced a true crime docu-series titled My Name Is Reeva about the late model which will air on the 25th of August.
Having the docu-series about a woman who lost her life to a man she was romantically involved is fitting, as August is Women’s Month in South Africa.
In the trailer, the parents of the late model are speaking about the tragic loss of their child. This terrible incident happened almost a decade ago, but the scars are still visible as they miss her daily. Each year passes, and the couple says they cannot celebrate Valentine’s Day as a day of love as it became a day of tragedy.
Both parents are crying in the teaser, and their pain can be felt. Reeva’s father says as each day passes, he thinks of what could have been Reeva’s life today. Her mother says she can not get over the pain of losing her daughter. She says Reeva was her child, and the pain will last until the day she dies.
One of the most emotional aspects of the trailer is that they show some of the late models’ pictures as she had a bright future in modelling ahead of her.
Oscar claimed that he heard an intruder from his bathroom and in the act of self-defence, he started shooting and mistakenly shot her girlfriend through the door. He was later arrested that morning, and it became national news that rapidly became global news.
After a long legal battle, the blade runner was sentenced to five years for culpable homicide. South Africa felt as if the sentence was not just and somewhat unfair. Reeva’s family also felt betrayed by the justice system, and the matter went to the Supreme Court. In 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the blade runner should serve an additional nine years in prison.
South Africans reacted very differently to the announcements of the docu-series. Some people wonder which angle it will take especially seeing that the perpetrator will be eligible for parole next year.
Some are happy the family is finally finding the strength to speak up about the model’s death publicly. Some people are comparing the upcoming docu-series to the Dewani honeymoon murder docu-series. In the series, we saw evidence pointing out that the husband was guilty, but justice never prevailed.
Watch the My Name Is Reeva trailer about Reeva Steenkamp below:
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