South Africa releases killer of anti-apartheid hero Chris Hani

By Hassan Isilow

JOHANNESBURG (AA) - South African authorities on Wednesday released on parole Janusz Walus, a white supremacist who had served 29 years for the 1993 killing of anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani.

The Constitutional Court in late November ordered the release of Walus, 69.

However, Walus was stabbed in prison two days prior to his release and was undergoing recovery at hospital.

The Department of Correctional Services said Walus will now serve two years under community corrections in line with parole rules.

Walus, a Polish immigrant who acquired South African citizenship, gunned down Hani outside his home in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, in April 1993.

The assassination nearly threw South Africa into a civil war barely a year into its transition from apartheid to democratic rule.

There has been growing anger since the court ordered Walus’ release.

- Outrage over release

Chris Hani’s widow, Limpho Hani, expressed disappointment over the court order, calling the judgment "diabolical."

“This court has not even addressed the victims. This country is finished. A foreign white person can come into the country and kill my husband and then the court does not refer to my family and trauma (we went through),” Limpho Hani told reporters.

In 1993, Walus was sentenced to death for Hani's murder but the sentence was later commuted to life in prison.

Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party, a close partner of the ruling African National Congress.

The South African Communist Party also expressed displeasure with the judgment.​​​​​​​