Wednesday 20 April 2016 16:08
Phumzile Mlangeni
Janusz Walus has served 23 years in prison for the assassination of Chris Hani. (SABC)
Judgment has been reserved in the application to have Chris Hani's killer Janusz Walus released on parole with immediate effect.
Walus has brought an application to the High Court in Pretoria for his immediate release pending an application to appeal his release by the Justice and Correctional Services Minister Michael Masutha.
Walus was granted parole in March but remains incarcerated following Masutha's decision to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal after his application for leave to appeal the decision to release Walus was dismissed.
Walus has served 23 years in prison for the assassination of Hani.
Walus believes he is being deprived of his rights to be granted parole simply because of political reasons. His lawyer, Advocate Roelof du Plessis has told the court that the decision to keep Walus in jail is political and the harm he will suffer while the matter is being heard will be irreparable.
He says the judge should consider the exceptional circumstances in this case.
The circumstances in question are the alleged political pressure exerted on Masutha and the fact that other political prisoners were released early. But Masutha believes otherwise.
His lawyer, Advocate Moerane Moerane says these circumstances should not be considered. He says Walus can't compare his case with other matters as each case is dealt with its individuality.
Advocate Gcina Malindi who represents the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Hani's wife Dimpho, says the circumstances are not exceptional. This, as a prominent leader was assassinated and could have resulted in a civil war.
Malindi also weighed in on Walus dislike for communists.
But Judge Nicolene Janse van Nieuwenhuizen was quick to dismiss that saying the report by the psychologists was misguided.
The SACP's Solly Mapaila says Walus should remain in jail as they believe he remains a danger to communists in the country.
"But we must also indicate that the areas we raised, particularly around his hatred for communists, which is in the Correctional Services' psychological report, remains extremely important because this is was one of the reasons he gave for having murdered comrade Chris.
And if he comes out still harbouring those intentions of hating communists it's a serious problem for us."