SADTU welcomes Minister Masutha's decision on Clive Derby-Lewis

30 January 2015

The South African Democratic Teachers Union wants to join the chorus of South Africans welcoming the decision by the Minister of Justice, Minister Michael Masutha, not to grant Clive Derby-Lewis medical parole.

We believe that the Minister made the right decision in not allowing the murderer of the late Cde Chris Hani to receive a "get out of jail free" card. We are in full agreement with the Minister's view that Derby-Lewis did not show any remorse at all for his actions. It must be borne in mind that his deed in the early 90s nearly drove our country to turmoil of unimaginable proportions.

We also want to dismiss the so-called humanitarian argument being advanced by some for his release, this we do on the basis that Derby-Lewis took away a leader from us whom we have no doubt could have contributed immensely to our country's development; a leader of the working class. He robbed the Hani family of a father figure and surely left a void which can never be filled.

It concerns us that to this day, reconciliation is expected to come only from the majority black previously disenfranchised group. It is our view that true racial reconciliation and integration will not be achieved whilst there is no reciprocity in terms of seeking forgiveness from the past amongst the racial groups that make up our society. As much as we expect others to forgive and forget, the onus is on those seeking forgiveness to firstly show true remorse and secondly to appreciate that we are still suffering from the effects of our racially divided history.

Statement issued by SADTU, January 30 2015

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