‘I would do it again’: Janusz Waluś on killing Chris Hani and Derby-Lewis’ alleged meeting with Zuma [VIDEO]

An unrepentant Janusz Waluś, the Polish immigrant who murdered South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Chris Hani, said he acted alone and would do it again if there was any hope of halting peace talks and the transition to a democratic South Africa.

The 72-year-old Waluś made some chilling confessions to eNCA‘s Annika Larsen in an interview on Sunday, titled ‘Confessions of an Assassin: why I killed Chris Hani’.

Waluś, who assassinated Hani in 1993, was deported from South Africa in December after serving nearly three decades behind bars.

Watch: Janusz Waluś speaks about Clive Derby-Lewis’ alleged meeting with Jacob Zuma

“I know Clive Derby-Lewis was visited by Jacob Zuma, I don't know what he wanted, it looked like he is going to help us somehow but I didn't know why and finally nothing came out of it” Janusz Walus

“Was Chris Hani the first person that you had shot at or killed” Annika Larsen… pic.twitter.com/LAv2P0SI6k

— News Live SA (@newslivesa) January 26, 2025

Working alone

In the interview, Waluś narrated his account of the days leading up to the assassination and his rationale for murdering Hani, insisting that, with the exception of Conservative Party member of parliament Clive Derby-Lewis, who supplied the illegal murder weapon, he was working alone.

Derby-Lewis, who suffered from lung cancer, died aged 80 in 2016 in a Pretoria private hospital after being released on medical parole.

ALSO READ: SACP expresses disappointment over Janusz Waluś’ deportation

‘No regrets’

Hani was shot four times outside his home on 10 April 1993. He was 50 years old.

Waluś said he had no regrets about his actions and that “if the circumstances would have been like they had been”, he would do it again.

“If there was any hope of stopping what happened, I would do it again.”

The assassination

The Polish immigrant said Hani looked at him when he assassinated him, adding that he had no prior intelligence that the SACP leader would not be with his bodyguards on the day.

“No, I haven’t got the slightest idea about that [the bodyguards’ presence]. The day I was there, it was planned only as a reconnaissance drive. And only for that reason, I saw him there. I decided that an opportunity like that would not present itself again,” he said.

“I don’t remember exactly, but I know he looked at me, he looked surprised, simply I shot him once in the corpse and once in the head and then after, twice in the head.”

“Did Chris Hani look at you, did he say anything to you” Annika Larsen

“I don't remember exactly but I know he looked at me, he looked surprised, simply I shot him once in the corpse and once in the head and then after, twice in the head” Janusz Waluś

Video : Enca pic.twitter.com/548fsNYdeP

— News Live SA (@newslivesa) January 26, 2025

Other plots

Waluś speculated he probably was not the only one with plans to assassinate Hani.

“I noticed after the assassination, suddenly everybody knows something. It’s only one possibility of which I thought of and which Lindiwe Hani [thought of] that there could have been some others plans of assassination as well.

“That’s very possible and that can involve other people because the fact that the police car was moments after the assassination on the scene, could mean that somebody was waiting for something to happen,” Waluś said.

[ON AIR] Janusz Walus speculates he probably was not the only one with plans to assassinate SACP secretary-general Chris Hani #eNCAeXclusive #HaniKiller #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/RJ9r9mxQcF

— eNCA (@eNCA) January 26, 2025

Aim of Hani’s assassination

Waluś said the aim of Hani’s assassination was to stop the “sell-out” by former president FW de Klerk.

“It was to a certain extent our hope that it will bring some action from the security forces and will stop, as I call it today, the sellout of President De Klerk. It was, I believe, Clive’s perception of the situation knowing politicians, being ex-members of security forces as well as security forces may come to power and stop all these negotiations and that things get not reversed but stopped.”   

Waluś said the operation was the brainchild of Derby-Lewis.

“From my side, I don’t know about Clive, there was no involvement of security forces, there was no involvement from ANC or PAC and whatever. I don’t know what secrets Clive took with him when he left this world.

“But knowing Clive, I am 90% sure it was his brainchild because I know he would never cooperate with anybody from the ANC because we would all regard it as treason, and I know that he was as well completely out of any kind of connections with the National Party and security forces at this point in time,” Walus said.

[ON AIR] Convicted murderer Janusz Walus says the aim of Chris Hani's assassination was to stop the 'sell-out' by former President FW de Klerk #eNCAeXclusive #HaniKiller #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/LYrQOFcOmA

— eNCA (@eNCA) January 26, 2025

Meeting Jacob Zuma

The former assassin told Larsen that he knew that “Clive had met with Jacob 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, and finally, nothing came out of it.”

The Citizen contacted the Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi for comment. This will be added to the story once received.

‘Racist’

During the interview, Waluś said he had nothing against black people, but he was against black majority rule.

“I knew that when it came to black majority government, it would be the end of [a] properly working country, the end of peace, end of security because what we have now, you can’t call it peace.”

Waluś said he granted the interview to Larsen because, for the first time, he was able to speak without restrictions.

“I can say my part about alleged conspiracy. I am interested in clearing the issue. You know, people are always looking for a bigger story than the story. When you take the political implications, people in the ruling party try to pin the story on each other,” he said.

‘I haven’t got regrets’

Waluś did not want to respond to questions about whether Hani was the first person that he had assassinated and whether he regretted killing Hani.

“I have regrets of taking [a] father and husband away… that is my regret which is authentic… And that I have told his daughter Lindiwe. But when it comes to the political side, I haven’t got regrets.”

Referring to Lindiwe, Waluś said he had “only good words for that young woman”.

He said she was the only person in the Hani family who visited him in prison.

“She was ready to listen. I told her everything I know.”

ALSO READ: Janusz Waluś stabbed in prison – Correctional Services confirms

Amnesty

Waluś believes he should have got amnesty because his assassination of Hani was political, not personal.

“It was purely political. It was not for personal gain. I did not have any personal animosities towards the victim,” he told Larsen.

[ON AIR] Janusz Walus believes he should have gotten amnesty because his assassination of Chris Hani was purely political and not personal #eNCAeXclusive #HaniKiller #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/b53k2kExXp

— eNCA (@eNCA) January 26, 2025

He arrived in his home country, Poland, on a Saturday morning in December.

Waluś returned to his homeland, which he left 43 years ago when he emigrated to South Africa, with his arrival seeming largely unnoticed in the country.

The SACP and the Hani family have called for an inquest into the 1993 assassination of Hani, saying while the government engaged Limpho on the Waluś’ release, the deportation just “rubs salt into the family’s wounds”.

ALSO READ: Waluś ‘won’t be forgiven’ for Hani’s murder, vows Lesufi