Six-time Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has been released from prison in South Africa to serve the remainder of his five-year sentence for killing his girlfriend under house arrest.

The 28-year-old spent just short of one year behind bars at the Kgosi Mumpuru II prison for shooting dead his partner Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria in the early hours of Valentine's Day in 2013.

The double amputee was convicted of culpable homicide (manslaughter) after he claimed that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four shots through a toilet door at his home.

Several attempts to release Pistorius from prison were denied by Justice Minister Michael Masutha in August, but it has now been confirmed by the jailhouse's spokesman Manelisi Wolela that the Paralympian was transferred to house arrest on Monday.

"Oscar Pistorius was placed under correctional supervision tonight," Wolela said in a statement. "The handling of the actual placement is an operational matter of the local management, and how they handle it is their prerogative that is carried out in the best interest of all parties concerned, the victims, the offender and the Department of Correctional Services."

It has been widely reported that Pistorius, who competed in both the Paralympics and Olympics at London 2012, will serve the remainder of his sentence at his uncle's luxurious home in Pretoria.

According to BBC News, the sprinter will not be electronically tagged, but his movement will be restricted, and he will also have to carry out some community service.

It is believed that Pistorius will continue to have psychotherapy sessions and will no longer be granted access to guns.