31 July 2007
The SACP wishes to confirm that last week we received a letter from the lawyers of the Cde Chris Hani’s assassins. In this letter, they are requesting a meeting with the leadership of the SACP for us to come and ask any question surrounding the assassination of our late General Secretary.
In the letter they also claim that they have documentary evidence regarding some aspects of the assassination of Cde Hani.
The SACP wishes to categorically state that if Messrs. Derby-Lewis and Walus have new information on the circumstances regarding their dastardly act, they should approach the relevant law enforcement agencies and lay that information before these. As the SACP we do not have any capacity or legal authority to verify or follow up on any information they might have. This can only be done by law enforcement agencies. We are therefore unable to meet with Messrs. Derby-Lewis and/or Walus unless other compelling reasons and/or circumstances arise that may necessitate such a meeting.
We however wish to reject with the contempt it deserves the 14-day ultimatum they give to the SACP to respond to their request. We do not account to criminals and murderers, but guided by our quest for the whole truth to be exposed regarding the assassination of our General Secretary.
Their letter however underlines our belief that a full judicial inquest is necessary to fully establish the whole truth surrounding the assassination of Cde Hani. That they talk about the fact that they have some apparently new documentary evidence, underlines our call for a full inquest and goes to show the extent to which they lied to the TRC and did not disclose all. As the SACP we therefore cannot be used as a platform for these two to release information by stealth, ostensibly to try and bolster their case for a Presidential Pardon.
The SACP also wishes to reiterate its total opposition to any pardon being granted to Messrs. Derby-Lewis and Walus. We will do all we can to oppose this, including mobilization of our people to ensure that they serve their full time in prison. We also remain confident that our government will not consider any pardon for the two, given the gravity of their action. As we have said before we will only consider withdrawing our opposition to any possible pardon, only if they speak the whole truth before a credible legal or judicial process.
The SACP, as directed by the 12th Congress, is currently consulting with its lawyers, with a view to submitting in the next few weeks an official letter to government requesting the establishment of a full judicial inquest into the circumstances surrounding the assassination of our former General Secretary, Cde Martin Thembisile ‘Chris’ Hani. We also hope that as and when such a process is embarked upon Messrs. Derby-Lewis and Walus will present themselves before such a process.
Speaking at the funeral of our late General Secretary, then ANC President Comrade Nelson Mandela had this to say: “Chris Hani`s murder was no aberration. It was consistent with the patterns of the past. Scores of assassinations remain "unsolved". Rick Turner, Matthew Goniwe, Sparrow Mkhonto, David Webster, Ruth First, and Dulcie September are but a few. Their killers remain unnamed because the criminals investigate themselves.
By killing Chris Hani the murderers made a fatal error, for he will not become just another statistic.
The regime has announced the arrest of a leading member of the Conservative Party, Clive Derby Lewis, in connection with this murder. We insist he be brought before the courts without delay. We demand to know what he did, who he worked with, and above all we demand justice. We do not want to see a situation where those arrested for such heinous crimes simply go free wants the hue and cry dies down, as has happened in the past”
We remain inspired by these words in our endeavor to find those who worked with the assassins of our late General Secretary, Comrade Chris Hani.
We wish to reiterate our stance that our call for an inquest has absolutely nothing to do with anyone inside the SACP and our broader movement being linked to the assassination of Cde Chris Hani. Continued insinuations that this is the case, only serves to divert from getting into the bottom of what we believe is a matter of national importance. Unfortunately these insinuations only serve the agenda of those who do not want us to get the whole truth about this matter.
Issued by the SACP
For information Contact:
Malesela Maleka
SACP Spokesperson
0822261802