Oscar Pistorius has begun dating a family friend just months after his release from prison for murdering former girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp – and the two women look suspiciously alike.
Double-amputee Pistorius, 38, was once one of the world’s most celebrated track athletes, storming to gold medals at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Months after his fame reached dizzying heights, he shot his model and paralegal girlfriend Reeva dead on Valentine’s Day 2013, blasting her with four bullets through the door of his bathroom.
His trial was one of the most widely publicised court sagas of the decade and he was ultimately found guilty of murder, despite maintaining his innocence.
Despite the guilty verdict, the ‘Blade Runner’ served just nine years and was released on parole in January.
Upon his release, the former athlete – now greying and carrying a paunch after years behind bars – moved into his uncle Arnold’s fortified mansion, from which he is slowly trying to reintegrate into society.
Reeva’s family have already warned Pistorius’ new flame, with sister Simone Cowburn exclaiming: ‘Is she nuts?!’ upon hearing the news this weekend that the pair are now dating.
The new woman – multi-millionaire farmer’s daughter Rita Greyling – is the latest in a long line of stunning blondes that very much appear to be the disgraced Paralympian’s type.
Pistorius developed a reputation as a womaniser whose relationships often overlapped and were marred by accusations of cheating.
Oscar Pistorius (R) and his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp pose for a picture in Johannesburg, February 7, 2013
Pistorius’ new girlfriend Rita has a successful career as a business management consultant
Jenna Edkins (left) first began dating the Blade Runner in 2008 and was linked to the Paralympic star up until the dizzying height of his success in 2012
Scorned ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor is seen walking past Pistorius at one of the court hearings during his murder trial
Rita Greyling
Pistorius has been spotted out and about with Rita Greyling, 33, who is reportedly a business management consultant from Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga.
The Greylings are said to be long-term friends of the Pistorius family, and sources close to the couple confirmed to South African outlet Netwerk24 that Pistorius and Greyling are in a romantic relationship.
But the pair are expected to maintain a low profile for the foreseeable future and details are being kept strictly private.
A source close to Pistorius said: ‘He is trying to rebuild his life in a low-key way and avoids bars and restaurants and the general public and is flying under the radar.’
Besides her successful business management career, Rita is the daughter of mega-rich and well-known farmer BP Greyling who is one of the biggest figures in the South African farming world.
Dad BP was voted South African Farmer Of The Year in 2011 and is a regular in a Jeremy Clarkson-style farming TV series called Megaboere (Megafarmer).
He dotes on daughter Rita and son Ghini, 30, who manages his 17,500-hectare farm in Wakkerstroom in Mpumalanga Province which has 6000 cattle and 21,000 sheep.
Reeva Steenkamp’s sister Simone wept yesterday as she read the story of Oscar not only beginning to rebuild his life but finding a new woman.
Simone said at her home in Port Elizabeth, South Africa: ‘I am just looking at this woman’s photographs and I have goosebumps and shivers going down my spine at this moment.
‘What shocks me is that she looks so much like my Reeva. She is the same build, the same face and hair, even the same eyes. Is he that sick that he wanted to find a lookalike?
‘I have to ask myself that having killed Reeva did he want to replace her with another?
‘I also have to ask myself how a woman can close her eyes at night and go to sleep with a man she knows fired four bullets that mutilate flesh into a woman he says he loved.
‘I am just so shocked he has chosen a woman that looks so like my Reeva. I can’t help thinking that having got rid of one Reeva he has gone out and got another.’
New love Rita’s family have also made headlines when in late 2022 her brother Ghini was involved in a devastating incident at Henbase Lodge, Morgenzon
Pistorius’s new romance with Rita (pictured) comes more than ten years after the horrific Valentine’s Day shooting
Friends said that the tragedies surrounding both the Pistorius and Greyling families drew them together
Simone Cowburn (pictured), sister of murdered Reeva Steenkamp, previously warned South African authorities against freeing Oscar Pistorius
Simone went on to issue a stark warning to Greyling: ‘I have nothing against her but will warn her to sleep with one eye open.
‘He has inside him the potential to do again what he did to Reeva and I don’t want that ever repeated.’
Friends of the Pistoriuses and Greylings said that tragedies surrounding both families drew them together and their reported romance marks a fresh start for both.
Rita’s family made headlines in South Africa when in late 2022 her brother Ghini was involved in a devastating incident at Henbase Lodge, Morgenzon.
Ghini’s close friend William Kruger, 29, died in a mysterious incident at a lodge the family owns during a party thrown by Ghini.
Kruger was found dead behind the wheel of his Toyota Hilux truck in a nearby river after he disappeared from the bash, with nobody seeing him ever leave.
It was initially thought to be a tragic accident but various details have since emerged that led police to suspect foul play.
Reeva Steenkamp
Reeva Steenkamp had been dating Pistorius for less than a year when he murdered her at his home on Valentine’s Day 2013.
The pair got together in November 2012 shortly after Pistorius’ hugely successful Paralympic Games in London – though the athlete was still seeing at least one former girlfriend when he began dating Reeva.
By February the couple were living together at Pistorius’ home in Pretoria.
But she was cut down in the prime of life by Pistorius’ bullets.
Aged 29 at the time of her death, the beloved youngest daughter of June and Barry Reeva was a rising star in the modelling world and a qualified paralegal.
Describing herself as a ‘brainy, blonde, bombshell’, Reeva was a top model for FHM in South Africa and was the first face of the beauty and fashion brand Avon.
She was born on August 9, 1983 at the Greenpoint Hospital in Cape Town and grew up surrounded by animals with her father Barry working as a horse trainer.
Reeva became a keen horse rider, attending her first horse show at just four and a half, and was an avid rider throughout her youth and teens into adulthood.
Tragically, she quit horse riding after she broke her back in a bad fall in her early 20s, an injury which left her needing to relearn how to walk and sent her down a different path.
After leaving school she studied law at the University of Port Elizabeth, which became a part of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2005 and applied to the bar in late 2011, with the hope of becoming a qualified legal advocate by the age of 30 while working as a paralegal.
Tragically, Reeva had planned to give a talk about gender-based violence at a Johannesburg school on the day she was killed by Oscar Pistorius. Pictured together in Johannesburg in 2013
Ms Steenkamp was a successful model, paralegal and campaigner
Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp at the Feather Awards on November 4, 2012 in Johannesburg, South Africa
As a little girl, Reeva grew up surrounded by animals, and became a keen horse rider
Besides her modelling and legal career, Reeva was a devout Christian and an avid campaigner.
Reeva was a celebrity face of South Africa’s Spirit Day anti-bullying campaign in 2012 and months before her death began advocating openly against misogyny and gender-based violence.
Her final Instagram post before her death paid tribute to Anene Booysen, a woman who was brutally gang-raped and murdered days before Reeva’s own death.
Reeva had planned to give a talk about gender-based violence at a Johannesburg school on the day she was killed by Oscar Pistorius.
The Steenkamps set up a charitable foundation in Reeva’s name to help battered women and Reeva’s mother is planning a refuge for victims of domestic violence.
In a heartfelt statement upon Pistorius’ release from jail earlier this year, Reeva’s mother June said: ‘In February 2013… life changed forever. The day South Africa lost its hero, Oscar Pistorius, and the day Barry and I lost our precious daughter, Reeva, at Oscar’s hands.
‘Now, almost 11 years later, the pain is still raw and real, and my dear late husband Barry and I have never been able to come to terms with Reeva’s death, or the way she died.
She added: ‘Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence.
‘With the release of Oscar Pistorius on parole, my only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva’s legacy.’
South African model Reeva Steenkamp was killed by ex-Paralympian Pistorius more than a decade ago. Pictured in 2012
Pistorius was granted parole and was released on January 5, 2024. Pictured in 2012 with Reeva
Besides her modelling and legal career, Steenkamp was a devout Christian and an avid campaigner
Barry Steenkamp, father of Reeva Steenkamp, is consoled by his wife June Steenkamp during the sentencing hearing of Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria October 15, 2014
Samantha Taylor
Samantha Taylor first met Oscar Pistorius at a rugby match in 2010, when she was an aspiring model aged just 17 – he a 24-year-old trackstar.
They hit it off as friends and later began dating, but Samantha claimed Pistorius became controlling and possessive.
Their relationship deteriorated rapidly, and Samantha went on to give statements against the athlete during his trial over the death of Reeva Steenkamp.
Excruciatingly awkward images from the courtroom in South Africa showed the pair shuffling past one another as Samantha prepared to testify against the runner.
She told the court about Pistorius’ manipulative and anger-fuelled behaviour, even claiming she had feared for her life.
Speaking to Australia’s ABC News in an interview following Pistorius’ conviction, she said: ‘I definitely thought it could’ve been me,’ adding that she received many ‘rest in peace’ messages when news of Steenkamp’s death broke ‘because people thought it was me… It was a real shock’.
She went on to explain how Pistorius ‘loved guns’, revealing that he always carried a firearm and routinely went shooting with his friends.
‘It was natural that the gun was… there. It was a part of him,’ she told ABC, claiming Pistorius once fired a sun out of the sunroof of his car as she was travelling in the backseat.
Samantha also claimed their relationship was wracked with jealousy and infidelity.
‘He used to often look through my phone, ask me who my friends were. I think he had that control over who’s in my life and who’s not,’ she said. ‘I was his.’
Oscar Pistorius’ ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor, whom he dated shortly before Steenkamp
Oscar Pistorius makes his way past his ex girlfriend Samantha Taylor as he arrives in the Pretoria High Court for sentencing in his murder trial on October 14, 2014
Meanwhile, Pistorius is believed to have been seeing long-term on-off girlfriend and childhood friend Jenna Edkins while dating Samantha.
Samantha told Australian and South African media that she suspected Pistorius maintained lingering affection for former girlfriend Edkins, whom he dated on and off for some five years.
Her suspicions were subsequently validated by the athlete who admitted his feelings for Edkins remained in an email he sent to Samantha in 2012.
Samantha also claimed she was still seeing Pistorius when he began dating Steenkamp in late 2012.
When it became clear that Pistorius and Steenkamp were an item, Samantha posted on social media: ‘Oscar has such a way with women. She’s probably not the only one he’s got.’
The Taylor family shared Samantha’s disdain for the Paralympian.
Following Pistorius’ arrest, Samantha’s mother Trish Taylor wrote on social media: ‘I’m so glad Sammy is safe and out of the clutches of that man.’
Oscar Pistorius and former girlfriend Samantha Taylor
Jenna Edkins
Jenna Edkins first began dating Blade Runner in 2008 and was linked to the Paralympic star up until the dizzying height of his success in 2012.
Unlike Samantha Taylor, Jenna sought to defend Pistorius during his trial over the killing of Steenkamp even as the athlete began seeing both women in 2012.
Before the trial began she advocated for the outraged public to hear the athlete’s side of the story, writing on social media: ‘All I am saying is let him speak, let his side be heard without jumping to conclusions.’
She later declared: ‘I have dated Oscar on and off for 5 YEARS, NOT ONCE has he EVER lifted a finger to me or made me fear for my life.’
Jenna, who was working at a bank when Pistorius’ was put on trial for Steenkamp’s murder, was routinely seen in court sitting alongside the Paralympian’s sister, Aimee.
She was a close support for her and the rest of the Pistorius family throughout the court proceedings.
South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius poses with girlfriend Jenna Edkins on August 22, 2008 in South Africa
South African Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius and his girlfriend Jenna Edkins (L) on December 2, 2008 in South Africa
Jenna Edkins dated Pistorius on and off for five years and defended him during his trial
According to friends, Pistorius shared a deep connection to fair-haired Jenna.
The pair were childhood friends far before their romance was kindled at ages 19 and 17 as Pistorius broke off his relationship with high-school sweetheart Vicky Miles.
Their mothers were close and the families often spent time together, with Pistorius and Jenna routinely playing together as kids.
Both families were reasonably well-off – at least until the athlete’s parents’ bitter divorce – and Jenna and Pistorius were both educated privately, winning places at university.
In early 2008, by which time the pair’s innocent childhood friendship had grown into an adult romance, Jenna was excitedly campaigning for her talented boyfriend’s historic inclusion into able-bodied athletics, based on posts from her Facebook feed.
Pistorius’ references to Jenna, a business school graduate, in his autobiography ‘Blade Runner’, are both affectionate and flattering.
He describes her as ‘delightful’, ‘sweet-natured’ and remarks on her ‘sparkling’ blue eyes.
Though the pair’s up-and-down relationship came to an end in 2012 as Pistorius began dating Taylor and later Steenkamp, they reportedly remained close.
Phone records show that Pistorius spent nine minutes on the phones with Jenna on the day that he shot Steenkamp dead.
Jenna Edkins leaves court after attending a hearing on the Pistorius case
Jenna Edkins, left, is seen sitting alongside Oscar Pistorius’ sister Aimee during his trial
Edkins defended Pistorius on social media and in court
Vicky Miles
Vicky Miles was Pistorius’ first love.
Their young romance began in 2004 and blossomed through high school but went on to become incredibly toxic.
In his autobiography, Pistorius described Vicky as his ‘true love’ and acknowledged they shared an extremely intense relationship despite their young age that was marked by grand gestures.
Pistorius recounted how, for Valentine’s Day in 2006: ‘Vicky awoke to find that while she was sleeping I had been to her house to hang 200 coloured balloons (I blew up each one individually) in the trees, in her driveway and on her fence.
‘I then took a can of spray paint and artfully wrote ”I Love You, Tiger” on the road in front of her gate. She was deeply touched.’
But it was also marred by explosive arguments as their experiences diverged when Oscar’s athletic career began to take off and Vicky went to university some 400 miles away.
The pair routinely became embroiled in aggressive arguments and shouting matches, finally splitting after Pistorius narrowly escaped death following a severe road accident.
He claimed he fell asleep behind the wheel of his car while driving through the night to pay Vicky a visit after a particularly vile argument.
‘I woke up as my car ploughed into the guardrail. One side of the vehicle was completely destroyed.
‘My behaviour was unforgivably stupid and I regret it to this day,’ Pistorius wrote in his 2009 autobiography.
A young Oscar Pistorius is seen holding his high-school sweetheart Vicky Miles
Model Anastassia Khozissova attends Diego Uchitel Polaroids at Milk Gallery on December 4, 2012 in New York City
Anastassia Khozissova walks the runway during the Ralph Lauren resort 2015 showing on June 4, 2014 in New York City
Oscar Pistorius and girlfriend Melissa Rom (L) arrive at the Sorex Estate for the wedding of Bryan Habana and Janine Viljoen on September 19, 2009
Oscar Pistorius with Chanelle Du Plessis
Flings: Anastassia Khozissova, Melissa Rom and Chanelle du Plessis
Even throughout his well-publicised relationships, Pistorius is said to have shared flings with several other women, chief among which was Russian model Anastassia Khozissova.
Neither Pistorius or Anastasia ever publicly acknowledged the claims, but they were widely reported to have shared a fling in 2011 or 2012 by the likes of BleacherReport, the New York Post, The Times and Page Six.
When Samantha Taylor split from Pistorius, she told media how he had been cheating with Jenna Edkins and ‘a lady from New York called Anastasia.’
Khozissova spent much of her time in the Big Apple where she modelled for a who’s who of top fashion houses and major labels including Valentino, Chanel, Dior, Karl Lagerfeld, Vivienne Westwood and Ralph Lauren.
In 2009 – right in the middle of his five-year on-and-off relationship with Edkins – Pistorius attended the wedding of South African rugby star Bryan Habana with cheerleader and model Melissa Rom.
Their relationship was brief – but she was listed as a witness and one of Pistorius’ ex-girlfriends during his murder trial.
The former athlete is also said to have briefly dated Cape Town chef Chanelle du Plessis, though the pair were only pictured together once.
