Why Chris Hani’s killer went free but Alison Botha’s rapists went back to jail

The Department of Correctional Services has explained the difference between two high-profile parole cases.

Janusz Walus, the executor of Chris Hani, was deported back to his homeland late last year after his parole term had expired.

Months later, two men convicted of leaving their rape victim for dead outside Port Elizabeth were rearrested while serving parole.  

Janusz Walus back to Poland

Addressing the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, Minister Pieter Groenewald explained how the cases reached seemingly contradictory outcomes.  

After the Pole was unrepentant in a post-homecoming interview, defenders of Hani’s legacy soon called for Walusz to be returned to South Africa to face further justice.

The minister explained that Walus’ case was handled under the Van Vuren Constitutional Court judgment, which covered death sentences handed down before March 1994.

Paul Van Vuren was in November 1992 sentenced to death after being convicted of murder, robbery, theft and the possession of an unlicensed firearm.

In September 2000, his death sentence was commuted to a life sentence and in 2007, he approached the Constitutional Court, which ruled on his application to approach the High Court to argue his case for parole.

“Mr Van Vuren’s case appears to be premised on the prejudice he may suffer if the statutory provision in question is retrospective in effect,” the 2007 judgment read.

“His case may implicate any changes in parole policy from 1994 and the proper interpretation of related provisions,” it continued.

The case of Alison Botha

The Van Vuren judgment allowed those with commuted death sentences to be eligible for a three-year parole period after serving their full life sentence, with Groenewald clarifying that 360 inmates had since benefited from this ruling.

The second matter relates to Frans du Toit and Theuns Kruger, who in 1997, were convicted of raping Allison Botha and dumping her body outside Port Elizabeth with multiple stab wounds and a slit throat.

The rapists were released on parole in 2024 after the standard application, recommendation and risk analysis process had been conducted.

However, after their releases, Botha’s lawyers threatened the department with litigation, claiming that no victim consultation on their parole was conducted.

Legal advice and the brutality of Du Toit’s and Kruger’s crime, as described during their prosecution, forced Groenewald to rescind their parole.

“The Minister’s primary consideration is the imperative of protecting and securing the community, particularly in instances where acts of violence against women and children have been committed,” the department stated upon their reimprisonment.

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