Outside the prison facility, a vehicle drove off with a group of correctional services officers.

It was not clear who was in the van.

After completing more than half his sentence, a parole board in November decided he could be freed.

On Friday, the country's prisons department confirmed the now-37-year-old Pistorius is on parole.

His behavior will be closely monitored until his sentence expires in December 2029.

He is expected to live at the home of his uncle Arnold Pistorius in a wealthy Pretoria suburb, according to local media.

His early release came after a victim-offender mediation with Steenkamp's family under South Africa's restorative justice system.

The program brings the parties affected by a crime together in order to find closure.

In 2013, he shot and killed Reeva Steenkamp through a locked bathroom door.

He has repeatedly said he mistook her for an intruder.

In a statement shared by the Steenkamp family lawyer on Friday, Reeva's mother June said her only desire now was to be allowed to live in peace.