Chris Hani's widow has launched a scathing attack on the judge who ordered the release of her husband's killer.
|||Pretoria - “I am not upset, but highly irritated that this white woman can tell me how to feel and forgive and move on. This judge plays God instead of dealing with the matters before her.”
Limpho Hani, widow of slain SACP leader Chris Hani, on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Judge Nicolene Janse Van Nieuwenhuizen of the high court in Pretoria, who ordered the release of the man who pulled the trigger that killed her husband.
Polish-born Janusz Walus, 63, is due to be released on parole within 14 days after serving 22 years in prison.
Hani refused to speak to the Pretoria News, saying she did not do interviews with print media. But she told Talk Radio 702 that the judge was “nothing but a racist” and that to her, “black lives don’t matter”.
Hani told Radio 702 host Redi Tlhabi: “She hardly referred to my husband’s murder. He was killed in cold blood and here’s this woman telling me to move on. As far as she is concerned, black lives are cheap!”
The widow said it was a very sad day in South Africa. “I don’t want his (Walus) apology. All I want is for him and whoever is supporting him to tell me what happened. We don’t know the truth.”
Hani said the judiciary wanted to rule through the back door, because they were undermining executive decisions.
The arguments by the judge in her judgment were silly, Hani said, adding the judge had not done her homework.
Clive Derby-Lewis, released last year for his role in the assassination, said he was elated that his old friend Walus would be out of jail soon.
“We’d love to see him once he is out of jail, if his parole conditions permit. His release is long overdue. He was a model prisoner,” Derby-Lewis’s wife Gaye said.
One of parole conditions of Derby-Lewis was that he may not speak to the media. His wife said Derby-Lewis and Walus had been locked up in the same prison - Kgosi Mampuru II in Pretoria - for 22 years before her sickly husband was granted medical parole. “They saw each other daily and remained friends.”
Justice Minister Michael Masutha initially turned down the parole of both men, although the parole board had recommended they be paroled.
But Walus turned to the high court to try to secure his release.
Judge Janse van Nieuwenhuizen agreed, concluding the minister’s decision was neither reasonable nor rational. The judge referred the issue back to the minister to determine the parole conditions.
Walus’s prospects of walking out of jail before the end of this month could still be shortlived if the minister appeals. His spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said they’d study the judgment and then decide. “We are naturally disappointed with the outcome. We held a different view to the court.”
In the judgment, the judge questioned the minister’s reasons for denying Walus parole, which included that he further engage with the Hani family, vigorously opposed to his release.
Walus wrote to Hani’s widow in October 2014 apologising for killing her husband, saying: “I do owe this apology to you for a very long time. I know that whatever I do, will not compensate for what I have done to you. All I can do is to say I am deeply sorry for what I have subjected you to through all those years.”
He also sent similar letters to Hani’s two children, but never received answers.
The judge said: “On what basis the Hani family’s refusal to engage with the applicant (Walus) could strengthen the minister’s decision to refuse parole, is difficult to grasp.”
It was “disconcerting” that the minister attached so much weight to this issue when it is not a factor to be considered when evaluating an application for parole, the judge said.
If the Walus parole matter was sent back to the minister for reconsideration, he would in all probability not be able to apply his mind in an unbiased manner, the judge said, adding it would also cause undue delay as Masutha took nearly 18 months to reach a decision before eventually turning it down.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za
Pretoria News
