Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp (; 19 August 1983 – 14 February 2013) was a South African model and paralegal. She modeled for ''
FHM
''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
'' magazine and was the first face of
Avon cosmetics in South Africa. Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presenter for
FashionTV
FashionTV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting television channel. Founded in France in 1997, by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, FashionTV is a widely distributed satellite channels in the world with 31 satellit ...
in South Africa and starred in television advertisements for
Toyota Land Cruiser
The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...
,
Clover "The One",
Redds
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
and Aldor Pin Pop. She was a celebrity contestant on the
BBC Lifestyle
BBC Lifestyle is an international television channel wholly owned by BBC Studios. The channel provides six programming strands: Food, Home & Design, Fashion & Style, Health, Parenting, and Personal Development.
On 1 August 2019, BBC Lifestyle a ...
show ''Baking Made Easy'' in 2012 and on ''
Tropika Island of Treasure
''Tropika Island of Treasure'' is a South African reality competition television series that currently screens on SABC 3. The show features an equal number of South African celebrities and public contestants competing in a luxurious, paradise-is ...
'' season 5 which aired on
SABC 3
SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...
in February 2013.
On
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
2013, Steenkamp was shot dead by her boyfriend,
Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African convicted murderer and former professional sprinter. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the o ...
, at his home in Pretoria. He stated that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder hiding in the bathroom. Pistorius was found guilty of
culpable homicide
Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular j ...
at
a first trial, and was sentenced to five years in prison. On 3 December 2015, the
Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), formerly known as the Appellate Division, is an appellate court in South Africa. It is located in Bloemfontein, the "judicial capital" of South Africa.
History
On the creation of the Union of South Africa f ...
overturned this conviction and instead convicted Pistorius of murder. He was sentenced to six years in prison, which was later increased to 13 years and 5 months by the Court of Appeal.
Early life
Steenkamp was born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
to parents Barry Steenkamp, a
horse trainer
A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...
, and his second wife, June (née Marshall, previously Cowburn), who was born in
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
, England.
She had two older half-siblings from her father and mother's respective previous marriages, Adam Steenkamp and Simone Cowburn.
The family later moved to
Port Elizabeth
Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
, where she attended
St Dominic's Priory School
St. Dominic's Priory School is an independent co-educational Catholic Pre, Primary, and High School in Godlonton Avenue in the suburb of Miramar, in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The school was founded in 1900.
History
In 1867, ...
.
After school she studied law at the University of Port Elizabeth, which became a part of
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
Nelson Mandela University (formerly known as ''Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)'' ) and before that - the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), the Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University's Port Elizabeth campus. This South Afr ...
, where she graduated with a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree in 2005.
Career
After university Steenkamp worked as a
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
and as a model.
She applied to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in late 2011
and hoped to be a qualified legal advocate by the age of 30.
Modeling
Steenkamp began modelling at the age of 14. She was a finalist in the Weekend Post Faces of the Future competition in 2004 and in the Herald Miss Port Elizabeth contest in 2005.
She appeared in ''
FHM
''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...
'' magazine as a model and cover girl
and was the first face of
Avon cosmetics in South Africa. She also modeled for the jewelry company Sivana Diamonds.
She was ranked #40 in the ''FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World'' poll of South African FHM readers in 2011 and #45 in 2012.
Her style icon was
Marc Jacobs
Marc Jacobs (born April 9, 1963) is an American fashion designer. He is the head designer for his own fashion label, Marc Jacobs, and formerly Marc by Marc Jacobs, a diffusion line, which was produced for approximately 15 years, before it was d ...
. She was a celebrity face of the
Spirit Day
Spirit Day is an annual LGBTQ awareness day observed on the third Thursday in October. Started in 2010 by Canadian teenager Brittany McMillan, it was initially created in response to a rash of widely publicized bullying-related suicides of ga ...
anti-bullying campaign in 2012.
Television
Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presenter for
FashionTV
FashionTV is an international fashion and lifestyle broadcasting television channel. Founded in France in 1997, by its Polish-born president Michel Adam Lisowski, FashionTV is a widely distributed satellite channels in the world with 31 satellit ...
in South Africa.
She starred in television advertisements for a range of products, including
Toyota Land Cruiser
The (also sometimes spelled as LandCruiser) is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. It is Toyota's longest running series of models. , the sales of the Land Cruiser totalled more than ...
,
Clover "The One",
Redds
Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...
and Aldor Pin Pop.
She featured as a celebrity contestant on the
BBC Lifestyle
BBC Lifestyle is an international television channel wholly owned by BBC Studios. The channel provides six programming strands: Food, Home & Design, Fashion & Style, Health, Parenting, and Personal Development.
On 1 August 2019, BBC Lifestyle a ...
show ''Baking Made Easy'' in 2012.
At the time of her death, Steenkamp was signed up to appear on season five of the reality TV program ''
Tropika Island of Treasure
''Tropika Island of Treasure'' is a South African reality competition television series that currently screens on SABC 3. The show features an equal number of South African celebrities and public contestants competing in a luxurious, paradise-is ...
'' and had filmed the series episodes on location in Jamaica.
The screening of the series began airing as scheduled on 16 February 2013, two days after her death. The first episode of the series was dedicated to Steenkamp and was preceded by a video tribute to her.
Personal life
Steenkamp was a keen horse rider until she broke her back in a fall in her early 20s and had to learn to walk again.
On the South African celebrity circuit she was a regular
A-list
An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry.
The A-list is part of a larger guide called ''The Hot List'', which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry ...
guest at
red carpet events and a noted
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
on the
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...
party scene.
Steenkamp had been dating
Oscar Pistorius
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius (; ; born 22 November 1986) is a South African convicted murderer and former professional sprinter. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the o ...
, a South African Olympic and Paralympic runner, since November 2012. She had previously dated
Springbok
The springbok (''Antidorcas marsupialis'') is a medium-sized antelope found mainly in south and southwest Africa. The sole member of the genus ''Antidorcas'', this bovid was first described by the German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm v ...
rugby player
Francois Hougaard
Francois Hougaard (born 6 April 1988) is a South African professional rugby union rugby player. His primary position is scrum-half, but also can play on the wing.
Club career
Hougaard played for Western Province in 2007 before joining the Blu ...
.
Death
On
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
2013, Steenkamp's boyfriend Oscar Pistorius fired four shots through the door of a locked bathroom cubicle in his Pretoria home, three of which struck Steenkamp who was on the other side. Immediately following this Pistorius proceeded to break down the bathroom door with a cricket bat to reach Steenkamp. He attempted to render emergency medical assistance and called for help. One of the first responders to the scene was a neighbor, doctor Johan Stipp, who did a jaw-lift-maneuver on Steenkamp in an attempt to open her airway. In his analysis of the situation he noted that she had no peripheral pulse, showed no sign of breathing-movements, and that her pupils were fixed, dilated. It was apparent that she had been mortally wounded.
Her body was cremated at Victoria Park crematorium in Port Elizabeth on 19 February 2013 and the service was conducted by Pastor Kurt Sutton of the Oasis Family Church in Port Elizabeth. Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder.
Pistorius admitted that he shot Steenkamp, but said he believed he was shooting an intruder. On 12 September 2014, he was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of culpable homicide in the case.
On 21 October 2014, he was sentenced to five years in jail, but only served 10 months. In December 2015, the Supreme Court of Appeals overturned the culpable homicide verdict and found Pistorius guilty of murder. On 6 July 2016, Judge Masipa sentenced Pistorius to six years in prison for murder, despite South Africa carrying a minimum sentence of 15 years for this offence.
On 24 November 2017, the Court of Appeal extended Oscar Pistorius's jail term to 13 years and five months with the possibility of parole from 2023.
Media-coverage after death
Steenkamp and
Anene Booysen
Anene Booysen (October 30, 1995 – February 2, 2013) was a 17-year-old girl who was found by a security guard the morning after she had been gang-raped and disemboweled at a construction site in Bredasdorp, in the Western Cape, South Africa ...
, both young South African women killed in 2013, were named SA Persons of the year 2013 by the ''
Daily Maverick
''Daily Maverick'' is a South African daily online publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Its readership is spread across South Africa and the world, with approximately 8 million readers per month. I ...
''.
In February 2014,
eNCA
eNCA, also known as eNews Channel Africa, is a 24-hour television news broadcaster owned by e.tv that focuses on South African, African stories and events. The broadcaster became South Africa's first and most watched 24-hour news service aft ...
broadcast a half-hour documentary special about Steenkamp's life titled ''Reeva: The Model You Thought You Knew''.
On 12 September 2014,
SABC 3
SABC 3 (stylised as S3) is a South African free-to-air public television network owned by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). It carries programming in English and, few in other South African languages. It has a number of its own re ...
broadcast an episode of ''
Special Assignment'' titled ''Oscar Pistorius: The Verdict''. The program highlighted the
missing white woman syndrome
Missing white woman syndrome is a term which is used by social scientists and media commentators in reference to the media coverage, especially on television, of missing-person cases involving young, attractive, white, upper middle class women o ...
media phenomenon in South Africa, given the disproportionate coverage of the trial and the
Leigh Matthews
Leigh Raymond Matthews (born 1 March 1952) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach. He played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and coached and the .
Squat, short-legged and barrel-chested, Matthews earned the ic ...
murder trial with the coverage relating to the deaths of the black women Zanele Khumalo and Betty Ketani in similar circumstances and time.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Reeva Steenkamp Death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steenkamp, Reeva
1983 births
2013 deaths
2013 murders in South Africa
Deaths by firearm in South Africa
Female murder victims
South African murder-victims
Nelson Mandela University alumni
People from Cape Town
People from Port Elizabeth
People murdered in South Africa
Reality television participants
South African female models
South African people of Dutch descent
Afrikaner people
White South African people
South African people of English descent
South African people of German descent
Violence against women in South Africa
Paralegals