WATCH | Hani’s assassination was a ‘necessary’ political move’ – Janusz Walus

Janusz Walus

Cape Town — Janusz Walus, deported to Poland after serving a life sentence for the 1993 assassination of Chris Hani, has reignited outrage with an eNCA interview in which he declared he feels no remorse and would kill Hani again.

Walus fatally shot Hani outside his Boksburg home on 10 April 1993, a murder that nearly derailed South Africa’s transition to democracy and risked plunging the country into chaos.

He and Clive Derby-Lewis, a co-conspirator and founder of the Conservative Party, were arrested for their roles in the assassination.

While Derby-Lewis passed away in 2016, Walus was granted parole in December 2022 and deported to Poland later that year.

In an interview with Annika Larsen on eNCA, Walus detailed the events of that fateful day and explained the motives behind his actions.

“That was our plan of stopping takeover. And as well, he was one of the most dangerous people. He was not only the first secretary of the Communist Party, but he was as well, , chief staff of the Umkhnonto weSizwe, which was responsible for many terrorist attacks within South Africa. Bomb blasts, landmines put on the rural areas,” he said.

Walus admitted that, on a personal level, he regretted killing Hani, acknowledging that he had taken the life of a father and husband. However, he clarified that he had no political regrets, as Hani was a powerful and influential figure.

“Yes, I have spoken to the daughter of the late Chris Hani. I regret taking away a father and husband – that’s my authentic regret. But when it comes to the political side, I have no regrets,” Walus said.

He said that such decisions can’t be made with hesitation.

“When it comes to decisions like that, you can’t think about things because that would paralyze you. You wouldn’t act,” he said.

“I think, to some extent, it was my role in the whole situation.”

Recalling the moment of the assassination, Walus shared that he fired four shots at a stunned Hani, who locked eyes with his assassin before collapsing.

Armed with a stolen, government-issued weapon provided by Derby-Lewis, Walus admitted that he had not planned to kill Hani that morning. However, noticing that Hani’s bodyguards were off-duty for the weekend, he took the opportunity when he saw Hani in his driveway holding newspapers.

When asked by Larsen, “When you committed the crime, did he look at you? What did he say to you?,” Walus replied, “I don’t remember exactly. I know he looked at me.”

“What did his expression say?,” Larsen pressed.

“More like surprise,” Walus said.

He continued, “Then, I shot him once in the torso, once in the head, and then twice more in the head.”

Walus also explained that he didn’t use a silencer, saying, “No, I didn’t use it (a silencer). And that you know, can prove to a certain extent that there won’t be bodyguards. And I didn’t know about that. That’s why I decided not to use the silencer because silencer was not like you see in movies. It was backbackyard engineering which limited me to single shot. And after every single shot, I would have to cock the gun again.”

He said that the assassination of Hani was intended to derail the negotiations.

“It was to a certain extent our hope that it would bring some action from the security forces and stop, as I call it today, the sellout of presdient de Klerk. It was, I believe, Clive’s perception of the situation that knowing politicians, being ex-member of serious forces, as well that security forces may come to power and stop all of these so called negotiations,” said Walus.

“I don’t think even Clive had a clear plan, but to simply continue the policy of homelands and to have at least some oarts of the contry where we, as white people have our own dispensation.”

Asked how he felt moments after killing Hani, Walus said: “I am not [an] emotional person. For sure it wasn’t nice at all. It wasn’t a good feeling. It wasn’t. But it was this feeling that it was necessary and it had to be done. And it must be dismissed from my mind.”

He also admitted to holding beliefs in white supremacy, claiming that historically, white people have been more effective leaders than black individuals.

“They (black people) generally can’t do it. They haven’t got the capacity and you hear it more and more from black people themselves. If you call it superiority, it doesn’t mean you have the right to oppress them. I don’t see not having voting rights as oppression,” he said.

Walus also said that he agreed to the interview because it was his first opportunity to speak freely and share his perspective on the alleged conspiracy.

“I can say my part about the alleged conspiracy. I am, as well, very interested in clearing the issue. You know people are always looking for a bigger story than the story is. And when you take the political implications as well, people in the ruling party try to pin the story on each other and make some political ammo against the rivals,” he said.

Walus revealed that a “hit list” had been created, and if the plan to assassinate Hani had failed, the next target would have been Joe Slovo.

The list reportedly included several prominent figures, such as Nelson Mandela, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo, Mac Maharaj, Karen Brynard, Pik Botha, Richard Goldstone, Ken Owen, and Tim du Plessis.

He added that he knew that Jacob Zuma visited Derby-Lewis in jail.

“I don’t know what he wanted… It looked like he was going to help us somehow but I didn’t know why. Finally, nothing came out of it,” he said.

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Compiled by Betha Madhomu

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