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Outcry over ConCourt order to parole Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus

Outcry over ConCourt order to parole Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus
Protestors march through the streets after Chris Hani's assassination on 14 April 1993. Secretary-General of the South African Communist Party Chris Hani was assassinated on 14 April 1993. Approximately 1.5 million people participated in the protests and marches that followed his assassination. In October 1993, Clive Derby-Lewis of the Conservative Party and a Polish immigrant, Janusz Walus, were found guilty for Hani's murder, and were sentenced to death. (Photo: Gallo Images / Media24 Newspaper Archives)
Victoria O’Regan
By Victoria O’Regan
21 Nov 2022
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The South African Communist Party says it is ‘sickeningly disappointed’ with the Constitutional Court’s decision to release Chris Hani’s killer on parole.

“Sickeningly disappointing,” is how South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Solly Mapaila described the Constitutional Court’s decision on Monday to grant parole to Janusz Walus, the man convicted of killing SACP leader Chris Hani in 1993. 

“The SACP fully supports the family of Chris Hani, who was the general secretary of the party when he was assassinated on 10 April 1993. The assassination of Hani left a gaping wound in his family, the SACP and the ranks of the working class.” 

“The judgment has rubbed salt in the wound.”

In a statement, Mapaila said the Constitutional Court’s judgment had “far-reaching implications” that compelled the SACP to analyse it and “look for a new way forward under the circumstances”.




On Monday afternoon, the apex court granted Walus’ leave to appeal application and ordered Justice Minister Ronald Lamola to place him on parole within 10 days. 

Handing down the judgment, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said Lamola’s decision to refuse parole to Walus in March 2020 was “irrational and it falls to be reviewed and set aside”.

Walus has spent 28 years in jail for a very serious crime that “nearly plunged this country into civil unrest” and nearly derailed the attainment of democracy in South Africa, said Zondo. 

Walus was convicted in October 1993 and sentenced to death for Hani’s murder. However, his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after the death penalty was abolished. 

Walus has made several attempts to secure parole since becoming eligible in 2005. 

Protestors march through the streets after Chris Hani's assassination Protesters march through the streets after Chris Hani's assassination on 14 April 1993. (Photo: Gallo Images / Media24 Newspaper Archives)



Speaking to Daily Maverick on Monday evening, Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said: “The Ministry notes the decision of the Constitutional Court. It being the apex court of the country holds important significance in the matter.

“We will be carefully studying the judgment to understand its implications broadly on policy and other endeavours in the department,” he added. 

The Constitutional Court, Phiri said, “argued that the basis of the Minister’s decision is impugned because the nature of the crime – which is one of the factors which the Minister took into account – would not change, and the sentence remarks of the court would not change any time soon”. 



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In a statement on Monday evening, the EFF rejected the Constitutional Court ruling to release Walus on parole, saying it “will invoke instability in our country”.

“The decision to release Janusz Walus is callous, insensitive and regressive, and is made by a self-centred collective led by Raymond Zondo, who have today spit on the grave of Chris Hani and those who died fighting for the freedom of this country.”



The EFF maintained that there has been no resolution between Walus and the Hani family, which “has consistently opposed his release due to the trauma they suffered”. 

The party called on government and the Hani family to apply for rescission of this judgment in terms of rule 42(1)(a) of the Uniform Rules of Court.

Speaking to Newzroom Afrika after Monday’s proceedings, Hani’s widow, Limpho Hani, described the court’s decision to grant parole to Walus as “diabolical”.

She slammed the court’s decision, saying it was “dictatorship at the highest”. DM

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