Cape Town – Political parties on Thursday voiced outrage over the North Gauteng High Court ruling ordering Janusz Walus, the man who assassinated Chris Hani 23 years ago, be paroled with the ruling ANC demanding he be deported to his native Poland while the justice ministry indicated it might appeal the order.
The SACP said it was “gravely disappointed and appalled at the Gauteng North High Court’s judgement effectively releasing from prison on parole the unrepentant murderer, Janusz Walus who pulled the trigger killing our former general secretary”. It went on to accuse Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen of bias and said it would not leave her ruling unchallenged.
Read: ANC wants Hani’s killer deported
“During the proceedings at the Court on 2 March, Judge Nicoline Janse Van Nieuwenhuizen made biased remarks suggesting that it was time to forget and move on and that the murderer must be treated with compassion, as if his killing of Hani was compassionate. The SACP and the family of the late Comrade Chris Hani took serious exception of the biased comments which indicated to us that possibly the judge had predetermined views about the matter in favour of the unrepentant murderer.
“It therefore did not come as a complete surprise today when she set aside the decision of the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services to decline parole for the unrepentant murderer pending applicable processes…. The SACP and the family of the late Comrade Chris Hani are not prepared to leave the matter unchallenged. We are studying the judgments and will decide on the next cause of action. There are many legal difficulties in the judgment and we believe there are good prospects of successfully appealing. We would encourage the Minister to appeal this judgment.
“The court’s decision to release him exactly a month before we commemorate the 23rd Anniversary of the assassination of this towering hero of our struggle is extremely insensitive. It is further devoid of any appreciation of the devastating impact the murder of Comrade Chris had, not only on the African National Congress, the South African Communist Party (SACP), but South Africa as a whole,” the ANC said.
The party said it should not be forgotten that the murder of Hani, the leader of the SACP at the time of his death, had brought South Africa to the brink of civil war.
“It should never be forgotten that the premeditated actions of Walus almost precipitated a civil war in South Africa, which was stopped only by the strength of the leadership of the ANC. Walus’ imminent release is a travesty of justice and a tragedy for the Hani family and all South Africans who believe in human rights and who held a firm belief in our right to fight for freedom.
“The African National Congress demands that Janusz Walus is immediately deported to his country of origin on his release, never to return to South Africa.”
The justice ministry on Thursday, in confirming the outcome of Walus’s court application, indicated that it may yet decide to appeal the Janse van Nieuwenhuizen’s order.
Spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said the department of justice and correctional services was still studying the judgment and would weigh its options.
“I cannot confirm that he will be freed on parole. What I can confirm is that the judge said he must be placed on parole in 14 days and given bail conditions,” Mhaga told ANA.
“We still have to reflect on the judgment and decide whether we will appeal or not,” he added.
Walus, 63, who left then communist Poland in 1981 to join his father and brother in South Africa, shot and killed Hani on Easter Sunday April 10, 1993 – a year before the country’s first democratic elections brought Nelson Mandela and the ANC to power.
He was initially sentenced to death, but this was converted to life in prison after the abolition of capital punishment.
Walus went to court to appeal the justice minister’s decision to refuse him parole last year.
His co-conspirator Clive Derby-Lewis was released on medical parole in June 2015.
The Economic Freedom Fighters also criticised the court ruling to release Walus on parole.
“The EFF notes, with deep sadness, the decision of the Pretoria High Court to grant Chris Hani’s assassin, Janusz Walus, parole which means he will be released from prison in two weeks time. It also means Janusz Walus, together with his co-assassin Clive Derby Lewis, will now be free from life sentences after serving only two decades. They will join a South Africa they sought to collapse into the cold and dark shadows of civil war, in protection of apartheid,” EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said.
African News Agency
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