'Oscar Pistorius not getting preferential treatment in jail'

South Africa's Department of Justice and Correctional Services Thursday gave assurance that no prisoners, including paralympian Oscar Pistorius, receive preferential treatment.

The issue of preferential treatment was highlighted by some members of the Paliamentarian Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services who wanted to know if Pistorius was given preferential treatment by being placed in a special section of the prison, Xinhua reported.

Pistorius, convicted of "negligently" murdering his girlfriend last year, was sentenced for five years last month.

The department stated that the White Paper on Corrections was clear that people with disabilities were to be treated differently.

"He (Pistorius) has a disability, so we need to treat him differently. It, however, does not boil down to preferential treatment," the department said.

The department gave the assurance while briefing the committee on its strategy to manage overcrowding, the impact of the overcrowding strategy on population level and the impact of overcrowding on security.

Committee Chairperson Mathole Motshekga urged senior management of Correctional Services to act in a swift manner once these issues in relation to prison preferential treatment were brought to their attention because it was not always possible to be aware of such incidents all the time.