SACP heaps scorn on 'deceitful' Derby-Lewis parole bid

A medical parole bid by convicted killer Clive Derby-Lewis is part of a desperate and deceitful campaign to get out of jail with out taking responsibility for his actions, the SA Communist Party said on Monday.

“Mr Derby-Lewis ... has run a consistent media campaign characterised by the worst form of deceit in order to get out of jail as quickly as possible,” SACP spokesperson Malesela Maleka said in a statement.

“In this campaign, facts about his health have been distorted and relevant circumstances around the assassination concealed from the family and the public.”

On Friday, Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said she was yet to receive a medical parole application from Derby-Lewis, who was convicted of the 1993 murder of SACP leader Chris Hani.

Derby-Lewis and his co-accused Janusz Walusz have twice been denied ordinary parole.

Derby-Lewis’s lawyer Marius Coertze told the SABC he had been trying to get Derby-Lewis freed on parole for over three years.

He said the correctional services department had been using double standards in granting parole.

Maleka said the SACP welcomed the strong stance taken by Mapisa-Nqakula.

He said media reports would persuade people that the government was treating Derby-Lewis unfairly and succumbing to the whims of the SACP.

“The SACP will not succumb to this blackmail and we applaud the minister for seeing it for what it is.”

Derby Lewis (75) has served 18 years of his 25-year sentence. His lawyer said he would be eligible for parole again only in two years, and that he was being treated for prostate and skin cancer.

Mapisa-Nqakula cited Derby-Lewis’ lack of full disclosure and a lack of remorse for the crime as among the reasons he had been refused parole.—Sapa