GUILTY PLEA
Derby-Lewis begs SA's Forgiveness
CLIVE Derby-Lewis has asked South Africans to forgive him for robbing the country of an ‘‘icon” and a potential future president.
In papers presented to the court during his successful appeal for medical parole this week, Derby-Lewis, 79, said he had experienced severe guilt and remorse every day since the death of SACP leader Chris Hani 22 years ago.
“I especially have felt guilt and remorse towards Mrs Hani and her children, who are really innocent and who have suffered under the circumstances of this matter.”
Derby-Lewis, who has served 21 years of his life sentence for conspiracy to murder Hani, was granted medical parole by the High Court in Pretoria on Friday.
He claimed in the affidavit that high-ranking officials had fought hard to keep him imprisoned despite him qualifying for parole as early as 2008.
His wife, Gaye Derby-Lewis, said yesterday that she was re- lieved by the decision after five previous applications had been rejected.
“The powers that be had already decided in 1993 that Clive would never come out.”
She lashed out at the SACP, saying it lacked compassion. “That doesn’t exist within the SACP. They don’t know the meaning of the word.”
She warned the public never to get on the wrong side of the party, “because their boot on your neck is not comfortable”.
She said that if there were more judges of the calibre of Judge Selby Baqwa, who made this week’s ruling, “then the country wouldn’t be in the mess it’s in”.
Attempts were made to send questions to Limpho Hani through the SACP, but neither party had responded by yesterday.
Derby-Lewis, who claims he has only 18 months to live, said he had suffered hardships in prison and paid his dues.
He was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2011, and is now dying of lung cancer.
In his request for forgiveness from South Africans, he said he felt guilt and remorse that they had been deprived of one of its most popular, talented and gifted leaders.
He said that at the time of his death, Hani was seen as an icon by many who were part of the liberation struggle.
‘‘I have guilt and remorse that this talented, gifted man could not rise to a leadership position in South Africa and possibly even president of South Africa,” he said. But the SACP does not buy it. Jeremy Cronin, the SACP’s first deputy general secretary, said the party’s central executive committee regarded the apology as nothing more than opportunism because DerbyLewis still refused to come clean on the entire conspiracy.
‘‘It is only belatedly, in fact during the middle of last month, and on the advice of new lawyers, that Derby-Lewis requested the Hani family, particularly Limpho Hani, to come and see him in prison so that he could express his regret. That is extremely late in the day.
‘‘There are very, very deep wounds that remain very open in the family. She’s very, very distraught at the court decision,” said Cronin.
Hani was assassinated on April 10 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg.
He was shot by Polish farright immigrant Janusz Walus as he stepped out of his car. Walus is serving a life sentence. Derby-Lewis, a senior Conservative Party MP at the time, had lent Walus his pistol for the murder.
Cronin said the party believed that there was a wider conspiracy. Derby-Lewis’s refusal to reveal all had created a lack of healing for the Hani family, the SACP, and the country as a whole.
Derby-Lewis’s release date has not been announced.
There are very, very deep wounds that remain very open in the family. She’s very distraught