The mother of Reeva Steenkamp has revealed that her family had little choice but to accept money from her daughter's killer, Oscar Pistorius.

June Steenkamp and husband Barry - who suffered a stroke shortly after his daughter's death - had been evicted from their home in South Africa after the landlord discovered their bankruptcy.

Pistorius, now in prison for the culpable homicide of the 29-year-old South African model, has been paying his girlfriend's parents £340 per month since the incident in February 2013.

"We didn't have much choice," June Steenkamp is quoted as saying by The Independent. "We were in such a bad way; we didn't even have food on the table. It was that or starve.

"I wasn't happy about it and it did make me uncomfortable. But we are going to pay back every single cent. That's how I look at it and live with it now."

June, who has since released her own book entitled Reeva: A Mother's Story, added that her family could now afford to snub the monthly payments: "We don't want any money from him."

Pistorius was sentenced to five years in prison last month but could only serve 10 months and spend the remainder under house arrest.