Reeva Steenkamp. (Gallo)
"Prior to 19 August 2013 we had, after much discussion, decided to maintain a dignified silence despite the expectation that we would face an onslaught of media attention," Barry and June Steenkamp said in a statement on Friday.
"Neither of us have, for quite some time, spoken to the media and therefore such statements cannot be correctly attributed to us."
The couple said the reports had caused them much frustration and heartache. They asked the media not to contact them directly.
Monday would have been Reeva's 30th birthday. Her paralympian boyfriend Oscar Pistorius appeared in court on the same day.
He is charged with the murder of Steenkamp who was shot dead in his Pretoria home on February 14. Pistorius's case has been transferred to the High Court in Pretoria and set down for March 3 2014.
The Steenkamps on Friday asked that Reeva's friends and acquaintances also act in a restrained and dignified manner.
"It is the least that she deserves. We, as the parents of Reeva, are best suited to tell Reeva's story," they said.
That would come out in time once they had come to terms with her death. – Sapa