Johannesburg – The convicted killer of South African anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani will be freed on bail in two weeks after more than 20 years in prison, a Pretoria court ruled on Thursday.
Janusz Walus was serving a life sentence for the 1993 murder of Hani, a charismatic activist and politician who was both a senior member of the African National Congress (ANC) and the head of the South African Communist Party (SACP) when he was gunned down.
The decision to free him is likely to be contentious in a country still dealing with the legacy of the brutality meted out by the white-minority regime that prevailed from 1948 to 1994.
Hani’s murder threatened to derail South Africa’s transition to multi-racial democracy, leading to nationwide riots and triggering fears of a civil war.
Walus, a Polish immigrant, shot Hani dead outside his Johannesburg home.
[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]