Pretoria - Legal representatives of Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Waluś, will return to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday in yet another bid for him to be placed on parole and subsequently be deported back to Poland.
He had served 25 years of his life imprisonment sentence at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in Pretoria, following the 1993 assassination of Hani.
Waluś was initially sentenced on October 15, 1993 to death, but when the death sentence was abolished shortly afterwards, his sentence was commuted to a life sentence.
The court last year decided to grant Waluś parole, but Justice Minister Michael Masutha took the matter on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein.
The SCA, however, referred the matter back to the minister for his reconsideration.
But in November last year the minister once again turned down Waluś’s application to be placed on parole.
Waluś, in papers filed with the high court, will ask for an order that the minister’s refusal be set aside, alternatively that the court orders his release, subject to him being deported to Poland.
It is said that Waluś wants to go back to Poland since his daughter is also staying there.
A social worker who interviewed Waluś said if he was released on parole, he will not pose any risk to the South African community should he be considered for deportation.
The social worker said he realised that he had made a mistake and he took responsibility for his actions by attending rehabilitation programmes in prison.
“It is obvious that I have have done everything in my power to rehabilitate, to conduct myself in such a manner as to comply with the prison rules and I have shown remorse,” Waluś said in papers filed at court.
He also asked the court to consider him as an ordinary prisoner, who has been serving a sentence for ordinary crimes. He requested that his case should be divorced from any political context.
He, however, did state that the killing of Hani was executed in circumstances where he was “fighting as a foot soldier to uphold the apartheid state.”
“This fact, should, however, not be held against me and be used against me, especially where I was not granted amnesty for the crimes that I am currently serving a (life) sentence for.”
Waluś’s co-accused at the time, Clive Derby-Lewis, was granted medical parole in 2015 following an extensive legal battle. He had meanwhile passed away.
Waluś’s lawyer, Julian Knight said it appeared that Government had a political reason for not wanting to release him. "The will continue to find every possible excuse to continue to refuse his release on parole,” Knight said.
The SACP deputy General Secretary Solly Mapaila meanwhile indicated that he will be attending the hearing, together with Hani’s widow Limpho Hani and family members.
They will oppose parole as the SACP still remained steadfast that Waluś remained an “unrepentant murderer and must remain in jail until he speaks the whole truth and nothing less”.