Pretoria - Janus Walusz, the man who pulled the trigger to kill SACP leader Chris Hani, is not happy that his “old friend” Clive Derby-Lewis put the sole blame for the killing on his shoulders.
Walusz’s lawyer, Julian Knight, went to see him in the Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Pretoria on Thursday and said his client expressed his disappointment about statements Derby-Lewis made two months before he died.
In his only interview since his incarceration 23 years ago, Derby-Lewis basically told Forum Films that Walusz went on a mission of his own when he killed Hani on April 10, 1993, in front of his Boksburg home.
Read more here: The secret Derby-Lewis did not take to his grave
Walusz’s message from jail was: “I have taken note of the allegations made by my co-accused in his recent interview, which I have read about in the media. I wish to distance myself completely from the views expressed by him. I unreservedly apologised for and deeply regret my actions. I followed the instructions of Mr Derby-Lewis, which I should never have done.”
Also read: Derby-Lewis: ‘Mbeki had no hand in Hani’s death’
In the interview Derby-Lewis said he never asked Walusz to kill Hani, but that he volunteered to do it. But Walusz said this was utter nonsense, as Derby-Lewis gave him the gun and the address of Hani.
Derby-Lewis, in explaining the lead-up to the killing, said during the interview: “I accepted his (Walusz's) offer (to kill). I said OK, if you want to do it, but keep me out’.”
No dates or places were planned, but Derby-Lewis said he instructed that it may not be done over the Easter weekend as families were together then.
The assassination was also to be abandoned if anyone else apart from Hani was around, such as his bodyguards. Derby-Lewis made it clear he wanted no other casualties.
He gave Walusz an unlicensed firearm.
Walusz is embroiled in legal proceedings to be freed on parole. The high court this year turned down his bid, but he is now heading to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Pretoria News
WATCH PART OF DERBY-LEWIS'S INTERVIEW BELOW