/ 14 November 2008

Balfour blocks Derby-Lewis parole

Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour on Friday closed the door on any chance of parole for Chris Hani’s killer, Clive Derby-Lewis.

”I will tell you [you] will not go out [of prison] Clive Derby-Lewis … you can go to hell.

”You’re not going to go out until you do your time, it’s as simple as that,” said Balfour.

The minister was speaking at the launch of the corrections week in Pretoria.

Derby-Lewis (72) was convicted, along with Janusz Walus, of assassinating South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani on April 10 1993. In 1995 their death sentences were changed to life imprisonment.

Derby-Lewis, who so far has served 15 years of his life sentence, had his application for parole postponed in the Pretoria High Court last month.

His attorney, Marius Coertze, said his client could have been a free man on October 15, following a recommendation of the parole board.

Derby-Lewis’s wife, Gayle, declined to comment on the matter while Coertze could not be reached for comment. — Sapa