Pretoria - The family of convicted murderer Clive Derby-Lewis, 78, blames the SACP and advocate George Bizos for the stabbing in jail of the killer.
They say had the party and Bizos not vehemently opposed his parole applications since 2008, Derby-Lewis would be a free man by now.
But they have not given up the fight to have the former Conservative Party leader freed on parole.
Derby-Lewis’s attorney, Marius Coertze, said another parole application would be lodged at the Pretoria High Court in April.
Derby-Lewis and his co-accused, Janusz Walus, are both serving 25 years for their role in the assassination of the SACP general secretary, Chris Hani, in 1993.
The two were attacked and stabbed with a sharpened spoon by a fellow inmate at the Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria on Monday.
They were apparently taken to hospital for further treatment.
Derby-Lewis’s wife, Gaye, said her husband suffered several deep stab wounds to his face, arm and head. He now has 18 stitches and a broken arm in a cast.
Correctional Services says the motive of the attack was unknown, but an inmate said a leader of the 26 prison gang stabbed Derby-Lewis and Walus because of what he termed unfair and preferential treatment for white prisoners.
On Thursday, Gaye Derby-Lewis blasted those who fought her husband’s parole applications. He has cancer.
“If the Communist Party and advocate George Bizos hadn’t made it their business to thwart and oppose all Clive’s parole applications, he wouldn’t have been in prison now.
“He was recommended for parole by department’s own parole board. “
“He has applied for parole three times. Each time Bizos and the Communist Party have come up with some cock-and-bull reason to oppose parole. And each time Bizos has managed to manipulate the system so that Clive’s parole was refused.”
SACP spokesman Alex Mashilo said she was delusional.
“Clive Derby-Lewis is a unrepentant convicted murderer who should rot in jail for the rest of his life. If he did not murder our general secretary he would not be in prison now,” he said.
Mashilo said the SACP would continue to oppose any parole application brought by Derby-Lewis.
“He applied for amnesty with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but it was not granted because he did not tell the complete truth. He is a liar and unrehabilitated. On this basis we will continue to oppose his parole,” Mashilo said.
Derby-Lewis’s lawyer, Coertze, was optimistic. “There is no parole condition prohibiting parole that could affect my client. We have complied with all the conditions, he is no threat to society, has served 20 years and he is fully rehabilitated.”
Gaye Derby-Lewis said she was taking legal action against former Correctional Services minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
“She stated she’d ‘never’ grant parole to Clive. Politics is the reason why Clive is still in jail.”
Pretoria News