Pretoria - It has been recommended that Clive Derby-Lewis get parole, Justice Minister Michael Masutha said on Monday.
“There has been a positive recommendation, in other words recommending the release on parole,” he told reporters in Pretoria.
“We are looking at those matters also in the light of the submissions from the SACP... who submitted a memorandum.”
Derby-Lewis provided the gun Polish immigrant Janusz Walus used to shoot and kill SA Communist Party secretary general Chris Hani in the driveway of his Boksburg, East Rand, home on April 10, 1993.
Derby-Lewis was sentenced to 25 years behind bars and has already served more than 20 years of his sentence.
The 78-year-old former Conservative Party MP has twice been denied medical parole.
He has been stabbed twice by inmates at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria.
Masutha on Monday said submissions by the affected families would be taken into consideration before a decision to release Derby-Lewis on parole was made.
“We will certainly make sure that when we eventually come to look at how best to process those issues, consideration is given at least to those submissions... and any other relevant advice that can assist us in finalising those matters.”
He said the emotional nature and political sensitivity of the matter would be considered.
The same would apply to the consideration for parole of former police death squad commander Eugene de Kock. The ministry had until July 18 to decide on the matter.
“We are considering the matter and we believe that we must do proper consultation and not make a rush decision on this matter,” Masutha said.
Last month, the High Court in Pretoria ordered Masutha to consider De Kock's parole.
Judge Thokozile Masipa granted an order giving Masutha 30 days to decide whether the man nicknamed Prime Evil should be released on parole after two decades in prison.
The National Council for Correctional Services apparently already made a recommendation about De Kock's parole in November last year.
Sapa