Court to consider Walusz’s parole bid in 3 weeks
CHRIS Hani’s co-assassin, Janus Walusz, will know in the next three weeks if the Supreme Court of Appeal will consider his parole application.
This was after the court halted the hearing yesterday, following a decision by a full bench to request additional heads of argument.
The court said the victim impact statement from the Hani family had not been considered during the parole application when the court made its decision.
Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha had appealed the decision by the Pretoria High Court in March last year to grant bail to Walusz.
The SA Communist Party yesterday welcomed t he reprieve granted by the SCA, saying it would help bolster the case against Walusz.
The SACP has maintained that Walusz has never made full disclosure with regard to the murder of Hani outside his home in Boksburg in April 1993. It said there were still many unanswered questions, and that Walusz has not fully co-operated in the process.
The SCA postponed the case to May 29 where it would be argued after the required documents have been submit- ted.
The SACP said they have been vindicated by the SCA against the judgment of last year by the high court to grant Walusz parole.
“The SCA’s correct decision stands in sharp contrast to the unfair argument by Pretoria High Court Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen, who granted Walusz parole a year ago,” said the SACP.
“Judge Van Nieuwenhuizen remarked that the views of the Hani family did not matter, and that the family had to move on 23 years after the murder.
“The SACP condemned this inconsiderate, insensitive, uncaring remarks, which we believe played a central role in her decision to grant Walusz parole,” it said.
The party said that Walusz still harboured anger against communists and remained a threat to society.
Walusz arrived in South Africa in the early 1980s from Poland.
He was living in the country when he killed Hani.
Walusz has been trying to apply for parole for several years, but has never succeeded.
His co-accused Clive DerbyLewis was released on medical parole in 2015, but died last year of cancer. Both men had been in prison since the murder of Hani.
Derby-Lewis and Walusz were also refused amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in the late 1990s for failing to make full disclosure.
The SACP has also insisted that Walusz has not come clean on the murder, saying he needed to make full disclosure for the killing.
Last month, the government declared Hani’s gravesite a Heritage site.