Durban - The Constitutional Court’s ruling that Janusz Walus be granted parole has evoked conflicting emotions in Struggle stalwart Mac Maharaj.
Walus shot dead Chris Hani in 1993. At the time Hani, an icon of the liberation Struggle, was the leader of the South African Communist Party.
After his arrest, the police searched his home. In the top drawer of a desk, they found a list with nine names on it. They were: Nelson Mandela, Joe Slovo, Maharaj, Karen Brynard, Hani, Pik Botha, Richard Goldstone, Ken Owen and Tim du Plessis. The police believed it was a hit list.
At the time, Maharaj was involved in the negotiations to end apartheid. After democracy he served in the Cabinet, and later as a special advisor and spokesperson in the Presidency.
Now retired, the 87-year-old told POST he had felt strong emotions when he heard that Walus would be granted parole.
“The unanimous judgment of the Constitutional Court regarding the parole of Janusz Walus for the murder of Chris Hani has evoked a wave of anger. This is a reflection of the unfathomable pain and suffering of the family of our hero Chris Hani, and the strong conviction of the public of a revered leader.
“These feelings are brought to the surface once again because our country is walking a difficult path to find closure to the brutality brought on the
people by apartheid, which has been correctly characterised as a crime against humanity.
“I find myself seized with conflicting emotions. I was on the Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis hit list. They had already traced my address and registration of the car I was driving at the time. And the effort to eliminate me and others continued even after the cold-blooded murder of Hani.
“The scrutiny and criticism of judgments by our courts is permissible in our democracy, even when a judgment is unanimous. However, I am compelled to check my temper and my reactions so as to ensure that my reactions do not undermine one of the key pillars on which our democracy rests. This is a burden to bear but it is a price we have to shoulder because we carry the duty to heal our society and carve a way forward
to peace and prosperity for our beloved country.”
At the time Hani was killed, there were fears that civil war would erupt. Back then Maharaj held the position of the Joint Secretary of the Negotiating Process.
He said: “The negotiations were still far from finding any agreement. The murder of Comrade Chris Hani plunged our country on the brink of an unbridled civil war which had great potential to result in a racial civil war.
“De Klerk, who was the president, was powerless to do anything about it. People were angered and they were out wanting revenge. It took a Mandela to stand up and remind us that it was a white man from a foreign country who had come to South Africa and killed our hero. But it was also an Afrikaner woman who had taken the registration number of the car that Walus had used and alerted the authorities. Mandela that day, through his call, directed us that this was the time that we should press vigorously ahead and bring an end to apartheid and bring about democracy.”
Maharaj recalled how he had lived in fear for his life.
“I had already lived my life many times under the threat of assassination by the regime. There had been many attempts to capture me.
“And I had already lived a major part of my life where I knew my family, my children, were bearing the burden of my activities. So, there I was once more challenged to contain my reactions and realise that we should keep to the goal of bringing about a democracy. So, I put my feelings of anger aside and focused on the duty I had to my country. This compelled me to keep at my task, not to waiver, and to put my country above my feelings – to put my country above the pain and concern of my family.”
Meanwhile, this week the Department of Home Affairs announced that Walus would be granted residence so that he could serve out his parole in South Africa.
Polish-born Walus had his South African citizenship revoked in 2017. Home Affairs said he would not be allowed to use any travel document and/or passport issued by the Embassy of the Republic of Poland. In terms of the Constitutional Court ruling, Walus must be released by this week.
However, on Tuesday afternoon he was stabbed in prison.
The Post