Hani killer 'to get parole'

2008-10-02 14:05

Johannesburg - Parole has been recommended for SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani's killer Clive Derby-Lewis, his attorney said on Thursday.

Marius Coertze said that the parole board sat in July and then recommended the move. Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour had however given the Hani family until October 16 to raise any objections to the granting of parole.

However, Correctional Services spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said Balfour had not been aware that parole was being considered for Derby-Lewis. He said the minister was the last person to be involved in any parole process.

Reacting to claims made on Wednesday by the SA Communist Party that the minister had allowed "the sending of a casual e-mail by a junior official" to Hani's widow, Wolela said that the minister did not have any knowledge of the e-mail.

The SACP claims the e-mail was sent to Hani's widow, Limpho, to inform her about the parole hearing and afford her an opportunity to raise objections. The party said it constituted a "serious act of provocation not only to the Hani family, but to the SACP, the alliance and the overwhelming majority of the people of South Africa".

It said that Balfour's decision to allow the e-mail to be sent "to the widow of an assassinated leader of Hani's stature is offensive in the extreme".

Investigation

In a statement released late on Wednesday, Wolela said: "Minister Balfour regards the manner in which... Clive Derby-Lewis and Janus Walus' parole appearance was handled [as] inappropriate and plans to investigate the matter and take appropriate corrective action".

Young Communist League spokesperson Castro Ngobese noted the parole board's intentions with "utter disgust".

Asked about the YCL statement, Derby-Lewis's wife Gaye said: "It's like an old record. We've heard this all before.

"The sitting has already been held. It was an all black parole board that made the recommendation," she said.

Derby-Lewis, 72, and the Polish-born Walus, 55, were sentenced to death for Hani's assassination on April 10, 1993. Their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment in 1995.

- SAPA