Groenewald says Walus parole decision was beyond his control

Correctional Services Minister Dr. Pieter Groenewald says the decision to grant Chris Hani’s killer Janusz Walus parole was out of his hands.

He was responding to MPs on the Correctional Services Portfolio Committee, who referred to Walus’ release, as a miscarriage of justice.

Groenewald appeared before the committee this week, to explain the process of revocation of parole to parolees.

He said while he would not argue the merits of the court’s decision but said it was done based on precedent.

Walus was refused parole four times, after which, the Constitutional Court using what is referred to as the Van Vuuren matter as precedent to grant him parole in November 2022.

In 2010, the Van Vuuren ruling, dealt with the issue of parole for lifers.

Dr Groenewald elaborates, “A typical Van Vuuren case, because he committed the crime in 1993, so what happened, firstly as Minister, I can only comply to court findings, and the law, in this case it was before my time, but that doesn’t matter.

It’s a matter that was a Constitutional Court decision. Now I’m not going to argue about that finding.”