After spending 28 years in prison for the assassination of South African Communist Party (SACP) and African National Congress leader Chris Hani, Janusz Walus was released from prison on Wednesday, as ordered by the Constitutional Court.

The Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services confirmed that Walus had been placed on parole under strict conditions.

Walus was due to be paroled on 1 December, however, his release was delayed after he was stabbed in Kgosi Mampuru prison in Tshwane where he had been serving his life sentence.

News24 previously reported that the 69-year-old was queuing for dinner when he was stabbed in his upper body with a sharp object.

The man accused of stabbing him is serving a life sentence for murder and attempted murder.

"Offender Walus was only discharged from hospital today (07 December 2022) as he had been receiving treatment after he was involved in a stabbing incident," the ministry said.

Walus was sentenced to death for the murder of Hani in 1993, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment after the death penalty was abolished.

After his death sentence was commuted, he became eligible for parole in 2005, and started applying to be released on parole from 2011. However, he was denied multiple times over the years.

His bid for parole was eventually successful after his legal challenge ended up in the apex court, which ordered that he be released.

Constitutional rights

In the statement, the ministry was at pains to explain his release.

"There is no question that offender Walus is a polarising figure in our budding constitutional democracy, and that his release has understandably reopened wounds among some in society, especially the family of the late struggle icon Chris Hani.

"Offender Walus’ actions sought to derail the democratic project at its most critical, formative stage, when the choice of either setting the country on a sustainable path of peace, democracy and reconciliation on the one hand, or chaos, civil strife and blood-letting on the other, was constantly one bad decision away.

"His killing of Hani was unqualifiedly among those actions that sought to condemn the country to the latter fate, had it not been for the inspired leadership of our nation’s founders and the resolve of the people of South Africa."

The ministry added that previous decisions to deny Walus parole were not made to avenge Hani, but had always been within the context of giving effect to the interests of justice, from the perspective of what the sentencing court had sought to achieve.

The Constitutional Court judgment removed the decision-making power from Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in this instance.

The ministry said courts, on previous occasions, had said the Constitution was located in a history involving a transition from "a society based on division, injustice and exclusion from the democratic process, to one which respects the dignity of all citizens and includes all in the process of governance".

"As such, the process of interpreting the Constitution must recognise the context in which we find ourselves and the Constitution's goal of a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.

"This spirit of transition and transformation characterises the constitutional enterprise as a whole.

'Uphold the rights of everybody on an equal basis'

"Our parole system is not a wanton license for unaccountability and impunity. Neither does it nullify the original verdict and sentence imposed by the courts. Parole is an acknowledged part of our correctional system," it said, adding:

It has proved to be a vital part of reformative treatment for the paroled person who is treated by moral suasion.

The ministry added that this was consistent with the law and that everyone had the right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause, and that sentenced offenders had the right to benefit from the least severe of the prescribed punishments.

"It is our long-standing vision that the laws of the country are there to advance and uphold the rights of everybody on an equal basis, regardless of colour, gender, language, religion, or culture."

Walus will serve two years of community corrections in line with the parole regime under which he is released, before he is deported back to Poland. He was stripped of his South African citizenship in 2017.

"Offender Walus has been furnished with his parole conditions in terms of the Correctional Services Act. If he violates the conditions, he will be returned to a correctional centre,” the statement said.

While Walus had been released from prison, Hani’s widow, Limpho Hani, and the SACP applied to the apex court to rescind its decision to grant him parole.

They want the case to be heard anew at a date to be determined by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, News24 reported. 

The application has not yet been heard by the court.