Derby-Lewis granted medical parole
The North Gauteng High Court granted Clive Derby-Lewis medical parole on Friday.
Clive Derby-Lewis, who was incarcerated for his role in the assassination of SA Communist Party leader Chris Hani in 1993, has been granted medical parole by the North Gauteng High Court on Friday. This follows an urgent application by Derby-Lewis which was filed on Tuesday.
Derby-Lewis, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1995, was diagnosed with lung cancer last year. The illness was detected after he was stabbed at the Kgosi Mampuru II Prison in March 2014.
According to reports, the judge said the parole conditions should be announced before 5 June.
Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masuthu had denied Derby-Lewis parole in January on the grounds that the cancer was stage 3 and not stage 4 and that prison laws stated that medical parole was considered for the latter.
The minister also believed Derby-Lewis could not prove remorse on his part.
On Monday Derby-Lewis’ lawyer, Roelof du Plessis, submitted reams of documents from a pastor, psychologists and social workers repeating that Derby-Lewis was remorseful for what he had done, and for the harm to the Hani family.
Du Plessis also extended an invitation to Hani’s widow Limpho to visit Derby-Lewis at the Eugene Marais hospital so that Derby-Lewis could apologise face to face.
Hani’s widow also expressed the opinion in several media interviews that Derby-Lewis had not revealed the entire truth about the murder of her husband and that there had been a larger conspiracy involved.
Derby-Lewis was arrested for providing the gun used by Janusz Walus, a Polish immigrant, to kill Hani in the driveway of his Boksburg home on 10 April 1993.
Derby-Lewis was a member of the Conservative Party at the time and found guilty of conspiracy to murder. He was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to a life sentence after South Africa abolished capital punishment.
At the time Derby-Lewis said he was acting ”in defence of my people, who were threatened by a Communist takeover”. He was also denied amnesty.
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