Radical campaign following judgement on Clive Derby Lewis

5 June 2015

The South African Communist Party (SACP) has expressed and reiterates its disappointment and condemnation of the North Gauteng High Court ruling delivered by Judge Selby Baqwa on 29 May 2015, effectively placing Clive Derby Lewis on medical parole with immediate effect. Derby Lewis and his collaborator Janusz Waluś cold-bloodedly murdered our former General Secretary Comrade Chris Hani. They denied the working class and our country continued leadership from an outstanding revolutionary leader and his wife and children a husband and father for the rest of their lives (see report).

The court ruling did not leave the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Advocate Michael Masutha and the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board any option but only to set conditions for the parole by today, 5 June 2015 as accordingly complied with.

The SACP will explore its options. However we would like to place the following on record, which we believe are important and could have been part of the grounds for appeal.

Derby Lewis has never been remorseful as the Judge claimed. The judge relied on information that was not part of the court process. He was, moreover, incorrect to say the SACP and Chris Hani family received preferential treatment. The concept of ubuntu was further abusively used to mean that only perpetrators of heinous crimes, including murder, in this case, must be forgiven with no regard of compassion to the victims.

The SACP reiterates the importance of the principle of compassion, and that this cannot be viewed or exercised in isolation from the truth. Twenty two years after Derby Lewis and Janusz Waluś murdered Comrade Chris Hani they still have not disclosed the truth about the assassination – proving to be both unrepentant and un-rehabilitated.

Judge Baqwa was overzealous and stepped out of the bounds of his jurisdiction. The SACP strongly believes that the court has overstepped its mark by blurring our constitutional principle of the separation of powers and by usurping the powers of the Executive.

The Judiciary must always earn respect from the general population. Otherwise the law will itself be viewed as immoral in the eyes of the pubic because it could be regarded as protecting offenders against victims.

The negotiated settlement in our constitution which laid the framework of the new judiciary was based on the principles reconciliation and inclusiveness. It is our strong view that some of the recent judgments undermine the letter and spirit of the constitution and the circumstances under which it was developed.

In the context of the above we will campaign for radical transformation of the Judiciary to meet the values of our democracy and constitution.

The SACP appeals to its members to continue to honour the memory of Comrade Chris Hani by affirming the revolutionary values that he stood for, among others non-racialism, democracy, equality and peace.

Statement issued by the SACP, June 5 2015