/ 11 January 2017

PAC’s Kenny Motsamai granted full parole after 27 years in prison

Kenny Motsamai says he plans to open a car wash after being released from prison.
Kenny Motsamai says he plans to open a car wash after being released from prison.

Former Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) combatant Kenny Motsamai walked out of the Boksburg prison a free man on Wednesday after he was granted parole, a correctional services official said.

Motsamai’s conditional parole expired on the day.

The PAC leader, who spoke to News24 while finalising his paperwork with his parole officer, said he was at a loss for words.

“This will be my first time sleeping outside of here with my family after 27 years and 11 months,” he said.

“I am just very, very happy,” he added.

He said he would join members of the PAC and the Economic Freedom Fighters waiting outside the prison to celebrate his release.

The former PAC armed wing combatant was granted day parole last year under strict conditions that included leaving Boksburg prison daily at 8am and returning before nightfall.

His movements were monitored with a tracking device and he was barred from participating in political meetings.

Car wash plans
But on Wednesday morning, the conditions were removed.

“We are happy as the PAC, we have waged a serious campaign for the release of Kenny and others. We understand that others will be released in coming weeks,” PAC secretary general Narius Moloto said.

The party announced that Motsamai will be opening a car wash to help support him and unemployed youths.

The PAC and Motsamai have always maintained that he was a political prisoner who contributed to the liberation struggle and that for him to remain in prison in a democracy was unjust.

They argued that the murder Motsamai was convicted of in 1989 happened during the struggle against apartheid.

Motsamai was imprisoned for killing a white traffic officer in Rustenburg during what the Azanian People’s Liberation Army called a sanctioned bank robbery. – News24