Deadline looms for decision on Walus’s fate

JUSTICE and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola will comply with the order of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to decide the fate of Janusz Walus, the killer of SACP leader Chris Hani almost 27 years ago.

This was the response from Lamola’s spokesperson Chrispin Phiri yesterday, when asked whether the minister had given attention to the matter following a directive from the court in December.

On December 12, the high court in Pretoria again considered Walus’s application to be released on parole, but it chose to remit the matter to the justice minister, ordering him to decide within 60 days.

Judge Jody Kollapen reviewed and set aside Masutha’s refusal to grant Walus parole in January this year.

The judge found that the psychologist and experts were mostly in agreement that Walus has shown remorse for the 1993 assassination of Hani.

“The minister is giving attention to the matter,” Phiri said.

“He has to. It is a court order. The court gave him 60 days to decide whether to release Janusz Walus on parole or not. He will comply with the court order.”

Lamola has until February 12 to make a final decision.

Walus and the late Clive Derby-Lewis were convicted for slaying Hani on the driveway of his house in Dawn Park on the East Rand on April 10, 1993.

Walus has been in jail since then, while Derby-Lewis was released on parole in June 2015 following a lengthy court battle. He died on November 3, 2016, of lung cancer.

Prior to his death, Derby-Lewis said Hani was murdered to make South Africa ungovernable, and to ensure conservatives would run the country.

As for Walus, his battle to be released on parole has been going on for years, until as recently as January, but former justice minister Michael Masutha turned down many of his attempts to be freed on parole.

Masutha said: “Having considered the various reports of psychologists and the apparent contradictions arising therein, it was difficult for me to make a determination on the suitability for placement on parole.”

Walus’s legal representative, however, has made several submissions in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria for him to be released saying reports prepared by psychologists Joel Mbele and Dr Zelda Buitendag have concluded that Walus’s risk of offending again was low.

They also said Masutha’s negative decisions were biased and subjective.