- ANC and SACP leaders led a protest at Kgosi Mampuru prison to express their discontent over the pending release on parole of Chris Hani’s killer, Januzs Waluz.
- Nomvula Mokonyane called for Hani’s grave to be made a national monument.
- He also demanded that the Department of the Interior release the address where Waluz would serve his probation sentence.
ANC national executive committee member Nomvula Mokonyane suggested that South Africans would not oppose the release of the inmate who stabbed Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus.
He made the remarks as hundreds of ANC and South African Communist Party (SACP) supporters marched on Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Services in Pretoria on Wednesday against Walus’s pending release on Thursday.
They sang fight songs as they marched in the blistering heat.
READ | ‘We want you to know South Africans are still angry’: ANC and partners protest Walus’ release
Walus assassinated SACP leader Hani in 1993. He was granted parole last week when the Constitutional Court ruled he should have already been paroled.
The SACP, the ANC and the Hani family protested the decision of the Constitutional Court.
Wednesday’s march was part of a series of protests that the SACP and ANC have staged since the ruling. On Saturday, they held a protest in front of Constitution Hill.
Mokonyan said:
If the people of South Africa had to choose who to release between Janusz and the person who scratched you, we would choose the person who scratched you.
The inmate who stabbed Walus has been identified as former SA Air Force Sergeant Samuel Mandla Madonsela, News24 reported. He is serving a life sentence for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Authon Dominic Stevens.
Mokonyane also demanded that Walus’ speech be made public. He did not clarify what the publication of this speech would be used for, but the crowd responded with cheers.
“We asked for Janusz’s address. We know he is in our neighborhood. We will go and say good morning, neighbor,” Mokonyane said through a loudspeaker.
READ | Blood is spilled on the eve of the ANC-led protest against the release of Chris Hani’s killer, Janusz Walus
He also called for Hani’s grave to be made a national monument. The tomb was recently vandalized.
“We also demand that Chris Hani’s grave be a national monument, starting with the province.
“He did not die in vain, the blood that was spilled brought forward the date of the elections,” Mokonyane said.
SACP leader Solly Mapaila said the rescission request filed in the Constitutional Court to reverse the probation sentence was important. The party filed its judicial request on Tuesday.
Mapaila joined Mokonyane in calling for an investigation to further investigate the mystery behind Walus’ involvement in Hani’s murder and his motives. Walus was stabbed to death in prison on Tuesday, days before his release.
Mokonyane and Mapaila said the protest was part of a series of mass protests until April, when they will commemorate Hani’s murder.
