Judgment reserved on Hani killer’s bid to be released on parole

20 April 2016 - 14:52 By Ernest Mabuza

Judgment was on Wednesday reserved in the bid by Chris Hani’s murderer to be released on parole. The South African Communist Party (SACP) and Hani’s widow Limpho Hani on Wednesday opposed the application by Janusz Walus.Walus on Wednesday applied to be released on parole pending appeal proceedings against his release‚ by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha‚ at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).Last month‚ Pretoria High Court Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen ordered that Walus be released on parole.After Masutha failed in his bid to apply for leave to appeal against her judgment last week‚ he indicated he would petition the SCA.This meant Walus would have to stay in prison pending the appeal.However‚ the Superior Courts Act allow a person in Walus’ situation to apply for the enforcement of Janse van Nieuwenhuizen’s order pending the minister’s appeal proceedings.Gcina Malindi SC disputed assertions by Walus’ advocate that his crime was an ordinary murder crime.“We make submissions that his crime was no crime like any other.”Malindi said the court which sentenced him in 1993 described it as an assassination of a prominent leader of the SACP and the African National Congress (ANC).“It was a murder committed on the eve of a democratic dispensation‚” Malindi said‚ and agreed with Janse van Nieuwenhuizen that his murder had a potential to cause a civil war.Marumo Moerane SC‚ for the minister‚ said an allegation by Walus that political pressure was brought to bear on Masutha to keep him incarcerated for as long as possible was vexatious and unfounded.Moerane also said Walus had not demonstrated that he would suffer irreparable harm if he were not released on parole pending the appeal.“We are dealing with a case of a person who has been sentenced to life imprisonment.”Moerane said for Walus to wait for the finalisation of the minister’s appeal was a hardship that did not amount to irreparable harm.Walus‚ 63‚ was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of Hani‚ who was the secretary-general of the SACP‚ a member of the ANC’s national executive committee and leader of its armed wing uMkhonto we Sizwe.Walus’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment after the Constitutional Court declared in 1995 that capital punishment was inconsistent with the Constitution.The application by Walus continues. ..

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.