Reeva Steenkamp's family is livid on the increased privileges Oscar Pistorius is receiving in prison.
Kgosi Mampuru II prison in Pretoria, South Africa, recently recategorized the double-amputee sprinter serving a five-year sentence a culpable homicide conviction to a "category A" prisoner.
Prison officials give increased privileges to Oscar Pistorius
That means that the 28-year-old Pistorius now can hug and kiss prisoners - as opposed to the strict "no touching policy" to which he had to adhere. He also is allowed to wear jewelry, make more phone calls, find a hobby and have a bigger budget to buy toiletries and snacks.
Pistorius also can have more visitors. The Times added that Pistorius now will receive an allowance of R150, rather than R100.
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Prison official deemed Pistorius a minimal security threat in explaining the change in his status. Pistorius was convicted in September in the Valentine's Day 2013 shooting death Steenkamp, his girlfriend at the time.
Pistorius said he mistook Steenkamp for someone he thought had broken into their Pretoria home.
Steenkamp's family was irate over the news of Pistorius' new privileges in jail, the Times of South Africa reported.
"Clearly, the Correctional Services Department has a short memory (about what Pistorius did)," Mike Steenkamp, Reeva's uncle, said. "If they grant these things they must think he is a model prisoner."
Pistorius is eligible for release into house arrest in August, but prosecutors have been granted an appeal over the charge and will look to get a murder conviction in front of the South Africa Court of Appeals.
According to the Times, Gauteng Correctional Services spokesman Ofentse Morwane said the classification of all prisoners is reviewed periodically by prisons' case management committees.
It is unclear whether a prisoner awaiting another trial on appeal is has an effect on such reviews.
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