Janusz Walus, the far-right extremist who assassinated anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993, is being deported to his native Poland after serving nearly 30 years of a life sentence in a South African prison.
Walus, 71, was released on parole in 2022, sparking widespread protests in South Africa, where many felt that his release reopened old wounds of racial inequality.
According to South African Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Walus’s deportation is not a government decision, but rather a decision of the Constitutional Court, which the government is abiding by.
The deportation, which is being paid for by the Polish embassy, is set to take place today, Friday.
Walus’s crime was a pivotal moment in South Africa’s history, as it forced the negotiating parties to set a date for the country’s first democratic General Elections.
Chris Hani, who was a senior member of the African National Congress and head of the South African Communist Party, was gunned down by Walus outside his home in Johannesburg in the final days of apartheid rule.
The South African government has acknowledged the significant impact of Hani’s assassination on the country’s history, stating that “every year that we celebrate Freedom Day, as a country we are in large part indebted to Chris Hani”.
