Far-right killer stabbed in jail ahead of release

• Published date: 01 December 2022

in Cape Town South Africa's ruling party and its alliance partners have held protests against the release on parole of the far-right gunman who assassinated anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani, to ensure his release from prison is a "walk of shame"

Janusz Walus is scheduled to be freed from Kgosi Mampuru prison in Tshwane today following a constitutional court ruling last week that set aside a 2020 decision by the country's minister for justice, Ronald Lamola, to deny his parole application.

Walus (69) was serving a life sentence for killing Hani, who was the leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) as well as chief of staff of the African National Congress (ANC) party's military wing, during the fight to overthrow the apartheid regime.

On Tuesday evening it emerged that the rage sweeping the nation over the release of Walus had seeped into the correctional facility where he is being held. According to the prison authorities, 69-year-old Walus was seriously injured earlier in the day when he was attacked and stabbed by a fellow inmate while standing in a lunch queue.

In a short statement, the correctional services department said he was in a stable condition and getting the "necessary care". How this affects Walus's ability to take up his early release remains unclear, but a request to serve his parole in his native Poland has been turned down.

Walus had originally been sentenced to death for shooting the popular Hani outside his Boksburg home...