Senior officials were locked in meetings this week to discuss Janusz Walus’s citizenship and whether he is subject to deportation when he is released from prison in the next few days.
The Sunday Times understands there are still questions about his South African citizenship, which his lawyer says was revoked in 2017.
A senior government source said this was among the issues debated in a meeting among directors-general in the justice, crime prevention and security cluster. The government is expected to announce a decision in the coming days.
Walus was officially naturalised in 1987 after arriving in South Africa in 1981.
If his citizenship has been revoked, he probably will be immediately deported to Poland. If it has not, he may be required to serve his parole in South Africa. The parole period is likely to be three years.
Rzecznik Prasowy, a spokesperson for the Polish ministry of justice, told the Sunday Times that should Walus, 69, return to Poland, the remainder of his sentence “will not be enforceable in Poland, as parole was granted in accordance with South African law in domestic proceedings in which the Polish party did not participate and had no influence on the decision of the South African authorities”.
Walus is serving a life sentence in C-Max in Pretoria for the 1993 assassination of Chris Hani, general secretary of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
He and Clive Derby-Lewis were sentenced to death for the murder but after the abolition of the death penalty their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
Derby-Lewis was released from prison in June 2015 after serving 22 years. He died 19 months later from lung cancer.
Walus was refused parole four times, before the Constitutional Court ordered his release on parole this week. It gave the department of justice 10 days (until next Friday) to effect the release.
Adv Roelof du Plessis, who represented Walus in his decade-long bid for parole, says there is nothing keeping his client in South Africa after his release.
“We don’t even know yet when our client will be released, if he will have to serve three years under correctional supervision, or whether he will be deported to Poland immediately,” Du Plessis told the Sunday Times.
He says Walus is “in a good space” mentally.
“Considering that he spent the past 28 years in prison, his head space is as good as it can be. His health is okay and he is excited about resuming his life in Poland.”
Walus’s daughter, Ewa Walus, lives in Radom, his home town. She has in the past helped raise funds to pay for the parole applications.
Du Plessis said they were waiting to find out the exact details of Walus’s release.
All that must happen now is that the minister of justice must announce his parole conditions.
— Adv Roelof du Plessis
“All that must happen now is that the minister of justice must announce his parole conditions.
The ministers of home affairs and justice must now consult and decide what they want to happen,” Du Plessis said.
Should his client be forced to spend three years under correctional supervision before he is allowed to leave South Africa, he expects the parole conditions to be strict.
“Because my client was sentenced under the apartheid laws, he will be on parole for a maximum of three years. Under the new South African laws, parole for those with life sentences is for life.”
He says Walus no longer holds South African residency.
“During one of his earlier court appearances, the state withdrew his residency. That should make the decision easier. I mean, on what basis will they keep him in our country if he isn’t a legal resident?”
He expects Walus to be deported immediately upon his release.
“In almost all cases involving foreigners that I know of, the prisoner is deported to the country of his/her birth immediately upon release. It would be strange if this is not the case with our client.”
Walus has attracted a right-wing following in Poland.
In 2019, an audio message from Walus was uploaded to YouTube and Facebook, in which he thanked his fans for raising legal fees and buying sports equipment.
Polish musician Olaf Jasinski recorded a song for Walus. Stay Strong Brother was loaded on YouTube eight months ago and has been viewed 851 times.
Home affairs spokesperson David Hlabane told the Sunday Times they were consulting on the matter.
The decision has divided South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was disappointed by the decision.
The ANC, SACP and Cosatu said they were organising a “programme of action” across the country to protest the parole.
It was due to begin yesterday with a picket at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, but did not materialise.
Several political groupings protested against Walus’s release outside the Cape Town high court on Thursday. On Saturday, a group protested outside the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg.
Solly Phetoe, Cosatu general secretary, said: “We want to send out a clear a message that this is not right and we are not happy. We are advising our legal team to challenge this decision.”
General Council of the Bar of South Africa chair Myron Dewrance said in a statement the council “noted the public reaction in the media pursuant to the judgment of the Constitutional Court”.
“The South African Constitution and, in particular, its Bill of Rights guarantees the right to freedom of expression with the concomitant right to critique judgments of the courts.
"However, such criticism should be expressed with due deference to the judiciary, consistent with the obligation of civil society to uphold, promote and respect the integrity and independence of the judiciary, and with due regard to the judiciary’s responsibility to interpret and apply existing law impartially without fear or favour.
“The judgment of the Constitutional Court which ordered Walus’s release on parole was a unanimous one. Gratuitous attacks on the judiciary, and singling out individual justices for gratuitous attack, only serve to undermine the rule of law and the public’s faith in the administration of justice.”
Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo referred the Sunday Times to the department of home affairs, which acknowledged receipt of questions but had not provided answers at the time of publication.
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