The parole of apartheid-era hitman Butana Almond Nofemela does not set a precedent for the release of Clive Derby-Lewis, Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said in Cape Town on Friday.
”By allowing Mr Nofemela to walk free I am not setting a precedent,” she said.
”Mr Derby-Lewis was not granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission [TRC],” she said of the man convicted of murdering South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani.
”Second, he didn’t give full disclosure as far as the TRC is concerned.
”Finally, he has not completed 20 years. Also, he has shown no remorse for the crime he committed. I will not let people abuse the process of parole.”
Derby-Lewis (73) was convicted with Janusz Walus in 1993 for Hani’s murder.
He has served 15 years of a life sentence, after his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished.
His last application for parole was dismissed by the High Court in Pretoria in March.
Nofemela has served nearly 22 years in prison for murdering Brits farmer Johannes Hendrik Lourens.
He escaped the gallows at the last minute in 1987 after confessing to killing eight African National Congress members. — Sapa