WATCH | ‘He doesn’t owe anyone an explanation’ – MK defends Zuma’s prison visit to Derby-Lewis

Jacob Zuma

Cape Town – Leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, Jacob Zuma, is not required to explain his visit to Clive Derby-Lewis in prison, according to MK spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela.

This follows claims by Janusz Waluś, the assassin of Chris Hani, who revealed that Zuma met with Derby-Lewis while he was incarcerated.

In a revealing interview with eNCA‘s Annika Larson, Waluś, the Polish immigrant who killed Hani, openly said that Clive had met with Zuma.

“I know that Jacob Zuma visited Clive. I don’t know what he wanted, but he was very positively discussed. It looked like he was going to help us somehow, and I don’t know why, but finally, nothing came out of it.”

Derby-Lewis, who battled lung cancer, passed away at the age of 80 in 2016 at a private hospital in Pretoria after being granted medical parole.

During an interview with Xoli Mngambi on Newszroom Africa, Ndhlela dismissed questions about the visit as insulting, defending Zuma’s actions.
He said that as a former president is entitled to keep certain matters private due to the sensitive nature of his position.

“If you look at that interview, it’s an insult that this man is even able to talk. It’s a fact. It’s an insult that this man can sit there and say, you yourself, as a black person, Xoli, are not worthy of being in that chair.”

Ndhlela said that Zuma does not owe anyone an explanation

“I’m sure you’ll understand when you’re a president, there’s some secrecy and a certain oath that you need to take naturally. So the president doesn’t have to explain himself if he doesn’t need to, and it could be that there are sensitive issues that could maybe lead to other matters that are not required to come out naturally,” he said

“So, being a president is a very difficult position because there are a lot of secrets that you have to keep and a lot of things that you can not say naturally, as is the case with any president globally.

“So for us to go and ask the president about what his meeting was, there are so many other meetings that the president has had with many other people, and that’s what I’m saying. I’m not going to now sit with you here and have a conversation about a racist killer who is actually a fugitive himself. If you want to know about a fugitive from the law, look at the man found with money on his couch. That’s loitering in the Union Buildings, a fugitive from the law, constitutional delinquent,” said Ndhlela.

Waluś, who acted alone in the 1993 assassination, expressed no remorse and suggested that he would kill Hani again if it stopped peace talks in South Africa.

Hani, aged 50, was shot four times outside his home on April 10.

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