Janusz Walus, who assassinated South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani nearly 30 years ago, will serve his sentence "to the fullest" in South Africa, the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement on Monday.

The department granted Walus an exemption in terms of the Immigration Act to serve his parole period in South Africa.

The exemption contained a condition that Walus may not use any travel document or passport issued by the Embassy of Poland.

This comes after a landmark ruling by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in the Constitutional Court to allow Walus out on parole. Zondo ordered that Walus must be released within 10 days.

Walus, a Polish immigrant, assassinated Hani, a popular African National Congress and South African Communist Party leader, in 1993.

In a unanimous judgment, Zondo said it was accepted that Walus had a low chance of reoffending, and noted that he had apologised to Hani's family "more than once".

Zondo set aside Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Ronald Lamola's March 2020 rejection of Walus' application for parole.

The department has also denied earlier claims that Walus would serve his parole period in Poland.

"The letter addressed to Mr Walus, and a certificate of exemption, has been forwarded to the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services to be delivered to Mr Walus.

"The letter set out the exceptional circumstances requiring the granting of the exemption which, inter alia, include the fact that it would be in the interests of justice that Mr Walus serves his sentence to the fullest, including parole in the Republic of South Africa," the statement read.

It said, "In light of the exemption issued by the minister, this speculation cannot be correct, and the Department of Home Affairs would not be involved in any deportation process of Mr Walus to the Republic of Poland."

It was also the Department of Home Affairs' stance that Walus must serve his parole period in South Africa as part of his sentence, the department's spokesperson Bongi Gwala said.

"It is clear from the media reports that the Embassy of the Republic of Poland believes that if Walus is deported to Poland, he won't serve any parole in the Republic of Poland because the Constitutional Court judgement is not binding on that country.

"The Minister of Home Affairs further believes that the heinous crime committed to the people of South Africa by murdering one of the icons of the liberation struggle makes it obligatory that Mr Walus must serve his parole period as part of his sentence in the Republic of South Africa," Gwala added.