The Amnesty Committee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) refused amnesty to Janusz Walus and Clive Derby-Lewis, the assassins of Chris Hani, leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP). Walus, a Polish immigrant, on 10 April 1993 shot and killed Hani in the driveway of his home in Dawn Park, Boksburg. He used a gun supplied by Derby-Lewis. The Committee found that both applicants failed to make a full disclosure and political motivation in respect of any of the relevant and material issues set out in the Promotion of National Unity and Reconciliation Act, No 34 of 1995. The Committee resolved "It is common course that the applicants were not acting on their express authority or orders from the Conservative Party (CP) which they purport to represent in assassinating Mr. Hani. The CP has never adopted, propagated or espoused a policy of violence or assassination of political opponents." Presently they are both serving life sentences for the murder.
Event record
The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019

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How we know this
- 01The doj & cd, Amnesty denied to Hani killers, from Department: Justice and Constitutional Development RSA, [online], Available at www.justice.gov.za [Accessed: 03 April 2014]
- 02IOL, Court refuses amnesty for Hani's killers, from The Independent Online, [online], Available at www.iol.co.za [Accessed: 03 April 2014]
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, March 16). The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013432
South African History Online (2011) 'The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013432 (Accessed: 13 October 2026).
South African History Online, The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013432, (accessed 13 October 2026).
"The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013432. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "The TRC refuses amnesty to Hani’s killers." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0013432.
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