Reeva Steenkamp was born in Cape Town, to parents Barry Steenkamp, a horse trainer, and his wife, June (née Marshall, previously Cowburn), who was born in Blackburn, England. She had two older siblings, Adam and Simone. The family later moved to Port Elizabeth, where she attended St Dominic’s Priory School. After school she studied law at the University of Port Elizabeth which became a part of Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2005. After university Steenkamp worked as a paralegal and as a model. She applied to the bar in late 2011, and hoped to be a qualified legal advocate by the age of 30. Reeva Steenkamp began modeling at the age of 14. She was a finalist in the Weekend Post Faces of the Future competition in 2004 and in the Herald Miss Port Elizabeth contest in 2005. She appeared in FHM magazine as a model and cover girl and was the first face of Avon cosmetics in South Africa. She also modelled for the jewellery company Sivana Diamonds. She was ranked #40 in the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World poll of South African FHM readers in 2011 and #45 in 2012. Her style icon was Marc Jacobs. She was a celebrity face of the Spirit Day anti-bullying campaign in 2012.

Reeva Steenkamp once worked as the live roaming presenter for FashionTV in South Africa. She starred in television advertisements for a range of products, including Toyota Land Cruiser, Clover “The One”, Redds and Aldor Pin Pop. She featured as a celebrity contestant on the BBC Lifestyle show Baking Made Easy in 2012. At the time of her death, Steenkamp was signed up to appear on season five of the reality TV programme Tropika Island of Treasure and had filmed the series episodes on location in Jamaica. The screening of the series began airing as scheduled on 16 February 2013, two days after her death. The first episode of the series was dedicated to Steenkamp and was preceded by a video tribute to her. Reeva Steenkamp was a keen horse rider until she broke her back in a fall in her early 20s and had to learn to walk again. On the South African celebrity circuit she was a regular A-list guest at red carpet events and a noted socialite on the Johannesburg party scene.

Reeva Steenkamp had been dating Oscar Pistorius, a South African Olympic and Paralympic runner, since November 2012. She had previously dated Springbok rugby player Francois Hougaard. On Valentine’s Day 2013, Steenkamp was killed at the home of her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius. Her body was cremated at Victoria Park crematorium in Port Elizabeth on 19 February 2013. Pistorius was arrested and charged with murder. According to Pistorius, he shot Steenkamp believing she was an intruder. On 12 September 2014, he was found not guilty of murder, but guilty of culpable homicide in the case. On 21 October 2014 he was sentenced to five years in jail but only served 10 months.