Chris Hani’s killer, Clive Derby-Lewis, is not entitled to parole although he is eligible for it, the North Gauteng High Court heard on Tuesday.
Technical legal arguments began in the court with 73-year-old Derby-Lewis listening attentively and taking notes.
His legal team argued that Derby-Lewis was eligible for parole as he was over 65 and had served 15 years of his life sentence.
The court also heard that it had the right to decide whether he be granted parole and that Hani’s wife, Limpho, did not have the right to make recommendations to the Parole Board.
This was because the law under which he was sentenced did not grant the victim’s family the right to make submissions, they argued.
However, the prosecution contended that Limpho Hani had a common-law right to have a say.
At the heart of the debate was whether a prisoner could be considered for parole after having spent 20 years behind bars, according to the old law, or after 15 years, according to new legislation.
Derby-Lewis and his accomplice, Janusz Wallus, were sentenced to death for the murder of the South African Communist Party leader in 1993.
The sentence was reduced to life imprisonment after the death penalty was abolished. — Sapa