Honoring Reeva 2025: A Valentine’s Day in remembrance
Rest in peace, Reeva. Your legacy endures, and your mission to uplift and protect women in South Africa continues to inspire.
Reeva Steenkamp wasn’t just a model and law graduate, she was an advocate for women’s rights, a daughter, and a voice for those who couldn’t speak for themselves. On 14 February 2013 she died tragically at the age of just 29. Reeva was a woman whose warmth, intelligence and dedication was establishing her as a powerful voice against gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa.
Reeva completed her law degree at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2005 and she was using her growing public platform to raise awareness about domestic abuse. Sadly, she became a symbol of the very issue she was fighting so hard against. Her parents, Barry and June Steenkamp, have worked tirelessly to preserve their daughter’s legacy. The Reeva Steenkamp Foundation supports women and children affected by domestic violence. June chose to meet with Oscar Pistorius as part of her journey toward healing. Such an act demonstrates extraordinary courage, dignity and strength.
REMEMBERING REEVA 2025
Before her passing, her final message, posted the day before her death read: “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow??? #getexcited #ValentinesDay.” These words continue to resonate. A cruel and timely reminder of a beautiful future lost on a day synonymous with love.
Oscar Pistorius was initially sentenced in 2014 for culpable homicide. However, this was later upgraded to murder on appeal. He served half his 13-year sentence, before being granted parole in late 2023. He was released in January 2024 under strict parole conditions of regular therapy and zero media interviews.
VALENTINE’S DAY LOST
However, this Valentine’s Day, let’s remember a woman who dreamed of making a difference. Reeva’s mother once said: “She had so many things that she wanted to do when she was qualified. And she would have been doing these things to help the young women in abusive relationships in South Africa.”
So, let’s immortalise Reeva Steenkamp not for how she died, but for how she would have wished all of us to live on. With purpose, compassion and a determination to make South Africa a better place in the fight against GBV. May her light continue to shine through the foundation that bears her name. Rest in peace, Reeva …