League assisting Reeva's mom

THE ANC Women's League is responsible for June Steenkamp being able to attend the trial of the man charged with murdering her daughter Reeva.

In response to journalists's questions, Advocate Dup du Bruyn, family lawyer for the Steenkamps, yesterday said the league was paying June's costs to attend Oscar Pistorius's murder trial in Pretoria, far from her Port Elizabeth home.

Jacqui Mofokeng, spokeswoman for the ANCWL in Gauteng, confirmed this, saying the league was the main contributor, but they were working with the Progressive Women's Movement of SA, a non-profit organisation for the development of women.

Mofokeng said the league inquired after June when she was not at Pistorius's bail hearing.

"She said she would like to attend but will not be able to be there all the time due to cost. We said we could be of assistance and then lobbied the Progressive Women's Movement in Gauteng."

Mofokeng said they were assisting Steenkamp and her close friend Jenny Strydom with accommodation in a guest house, as well as breakfast, dinner and travel costs. "We did it because we heard that she wants to be part of it [the trial] for closure. It is what the women's league stands for," Mofokeng said. – Marzanne van den Berg