Justice Minister Michael Masutha has ruled the decision to allow Pistorius to serve out the remainder of his five-year sentence at home had "no legal basis".
Pistorius was due to be moved to house arrest on Friday, a day after what would have been Reeva Steenkamp's 32nd birthday.
The 28 year-old athlete has served ten months of his five-year sentence for the manslaughter of Ms Steenkamp.
He maintains he mistook her for an intruder when he shot her dead through a bathroom door on Valentines Day, 2013.
Pistorius had been due to be transferred from prison to house arrest this week, where he was to serve out the remainder of his sentence at his uncle's three-story mansion in the capital, Pretoria.
Tania Koen, a lawyer for Ms Steenkamp's parents Barry and June, says ten months is not enough for Pistorius' crime.
"Although June and Barry Steenkamp have forgiven Mr Pistorius for taking the life of their daughter, they at the same time have always said that they don't want revenge, they don't want him to suffer...however they say 10 months is not enough for taking a life, whether it was Reeva's life or that of an intruder's, for that matter. Ten months is not enough. And it also doesn't send out the proper message and serve as a proper deterrent, as it should."
South Africa's Justice Minister, Michael Masutha, says the issue of Pistorius's transfer was brought to his attention by a women's human rights organisation, which asked him to reconsider the decision.
Coincidentally, August is "Women's Month" in South Africa - a government initiative to highlight women's issues.
Mr Masutha says his decision to refer the matter for review was not based on the reasons provided by the women's group.
He says after looking more closely at the legal aspects of the case, he could not deny that the parole board had not correctly applied the law.
Mr Masutha said the parole board should not even have begun to consider the matter until after ten months had elapsed.
"It is not conceivable that the parole board could have lawfully considered his application before the lapse of that minimum period. So on that basis I decided to refer the matter for review as provided in the act with the National Council of Correctional Service, which is the parole review board in this instant."
In and around the city of Pretoria, people express mixed feelings about the Pistorius case.
This woman says granting Pistorius parole would send the wrong message about violence against women.
"I thinks it's not right, what he did, killing a woman and getting off scot free. What message is it sending out to the world, so anyone can just be killed and they can be going to jail and after six months they are out, it was not right."
This man says South Africa should focus on bigger issues.
"Nothing for me has fundamentally changed, it's just the structure but the actual fundamentals of the structural and inequality racism still exist in country, and I think our focus should be on those things rather than petty criminal activities that are done by the rich and wealthy and famous."
It could now take months for the board to review its decision.
However criminal lawyer Mannie Witz says the review will not affect his eligibility for parole.
"This will not affect his eligibility at all. Once everything has been done, he is a suitable candidate and he complies and if they can impose the conditions then it won't affect him at all."
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