JOHANNESBURG -  "This heinous man remains a symbol of the brutality of apartheid and its devious plot to cause further instability and his non-remorseful attitude remains our main argument that he must rot in jail," national spokesman Mangaliso Stalin Khonza said.

Khonza said the request for medical parole by Derby-Lewis should be rejected with the necessary contempt for the evil he still represented.

He added that the Hani family and the people of South Africa still suffered the pain of the loss of a dedicated servant of the people.

"No amount of pleas by the murderers of Chris Hani will ever wipe the blood that was spilled by the devious plans of this glorified apartheid monster."

Derby-Lewis's wife Gaye told Eyewitness News on Monday that Derby-Lewis would apply for medical parole because he was ill.

She planned to file the papers in the next few weeks and hoped the attempt would succeed as her husband was suffering from cancer and from gangrene in one leg.

This was the first time Derby-Lewis would apply for medical parole. He was denied normal parole last year.

The leader of the apartheid-era Conservative Party, and an MP, Derby-Lewis was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his part in the murder of SA Communist Party general secretary Chris Hani in 1993.

He arranged a firearm for triggerman Janusz Walus, who is serving the same prison term.

Both were initially sentenced to death. This was commuted to life in prison after the abolition of the death penalty.

Derby-Lewis is 76-years-old.