PRETORIA: Oscar Pistorius was expected to be placed under house arrest next week after officials Thursday said he would be paroled having served one year of a five-year term for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Lawyers for the South African Paralympian star had argued he should have been allowed out in August after serving a sixth of his sentence for killing Steenkamp in 2013.

But he remained behind bars after Justice Minister Michael Masutha made a last-minute intervention and the case was referred for review. Steenkamp’s parents say Pistorius killed their daughter on purpose and have contested any parole.

“They are not surprised at all — it was expected,” Tania Koen, a lawyer acting on behalf of Steenkamp family, told AFP after speaking to June and Barry Steenkamp on Thursday.

“But it doesn’t change anything in their lives. Their daughter is still not coming back.

“Whether Pistorius is incarcerated or released on parole, their daughter is still gone.”

After meeting last week, the parole board said it wanted to consult with Steenkamp’s family over Pistorius’s possible release.

An official statement from the department of correctional services said the parole board “approved the placement of offender Oscar Pistorius under correctional supervision as from 20 October 2015.

“The parole board considered all submissions, including the offender’s profile report, the directives of the Parole Review Board and the submission of the victim’s family.”