Killer Of South Africa's Anti-apartheid Hero Stabbed Days Before His Release After 30 Years In Jail
Janusz Walus who has been in prison for nearly 30 years for killing South Africa’s anti-apartheid hero Chris Hani was recently stabbed while in prison just days before he was due to be released on parole.
He was allegedly stabbed by another prisoner and is in stable condition, BBC News reported citing officials.
Walus, 69, shot Mr Hani in 1993 in a failed attempt to derail South Africa’s transition from white-minority rule to democratic rule.
Hani was regarded as the most popular politician after anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
Walus killed Hani as he picked up the newspapers outside his home in April 1993 by shooting him at point-blank range.
Walus was arrested and sentenced to death but tthe sentence was reduced to life after South Africa abolished the death penalty.
Hani who was 50 years old was the leader of the SACP and a senior member of the ANC’s military wing.
Walus is a Polish immigrant whose South African citizenship was revoked in 2017.
Some South Africans have called for his deportation to prevent civil unrest.
However, the government has ruled it out, saying he would serve his parole in South Africa.
South Africa’s government and Mr Hani’s widow Limpho vigorously opposed Walus’s attempts to gain his freedom.
But in a ruling on 21 November, South Africa’s highest court ordered his release within 10 days, saying the justice minister’s refusal to grant him parole was “irrational“.
In a brief statement, the prison department said it could confirm the “unfortunate stabbing incident” involving Walus adding that healthcare officials were providing him with the “necessary care“.
Reports suggest that Walus’ attacker tried to stab him in the heart.
The attack came after a monument in honour of Mr Hani was vandalised on Saturday at the cemetery where he is buried.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) and its allies described the incident as a “provocative attack“, and “tantamount to a continuation of Chris Hani’s assassination in the grave“.
