The test of a true democracy, in the words of Golda Meir, lies in the question: Are the opponents of government in parliament or in jail?
One example of where the South African government is dismally failing in this regard, is in the shocking and inhumane treatment of a terminally ill, elderly man whom they are keeping in jail at all cost.
Clive Derby-Lewis was a Conservative Party MP when he became involved in a plot to assassinate the Secretary General of the South African Communist Party, Chris Hani. In order to understand this, we need to take a look at the two men.
On the one hand you had the Conservative, well-spoken and popular Derby-Lewis – a man of English upbringing with an outspoken Christian value system who identified with the Afrikaner/Boer nation completely. At the time of the assassination he was 57 years old.
On the other hand you had Chris Hani (51), Communist and Chief of Staff of the ANC’s military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. Hani was regarded as the most influential leader after Nelson Mandela. He was notoriously militant and dictated the violent process of bombings and burning alive of opponents leading up to the downfall of the De Klerk government and the negotiation process of 1992-1993. In Conservative circles Hani was regarded as a very dangerous man.
On the morning of 10 April 1993 Hani was shot in the driveway of his house in Boksburg on the East Rand by Janusz Walus, an outspokenly anti-Communist Afrikaner of Polish origin. Walus knew the plight of his own nation and the decades of suffering and agony under Communism. He could not face the possibility that his adopted country would suffer the fate of a Communist regime under Chris Hani. It later transpired that the firearm used in the assassination was provided by Derby-Lewis, despite the fact that he was not anywhere near the crime scene.
On the 15th of October 1993, 6 months and 5 days after the incident, both these men were sentenced to be hanged. This sentenced was commuted to life imprisonment in 1995 with the constitutional abolition of capital punishment.
It is now 21 years later and the agony of a prolonged incarceration has all but destroyed Clive Derby-Lewis.
In 1999 Derby-Lewis and Janusz Walus appealed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which had notoriously little to do with reconciliation and even less with truth. On this occasion Derby-Lewis testified that the assassination plot went far deeper than what the obvious tells us. He was stopped in his tracks by the TRC councillors and prevented from disclosing any further information on who was behind the assassination plot. The TRC found that it was simply an ordinary crime with no political motive – certainly one of the most astonishing judgements of error ever deliberately concluded! And ever since the two men have been locked away.
Why? What is it the ANC government does not want to be made public? Why has every attempt for medical parole (6 in all!) been denied to a man such as Derby-Lewis? Why, even after his parole was approved, is he still not released?
On 12 April, 15 July and 12 September Front Nasionaal submitted petitions for the release of Derby-Lewis to the Minister of Correctional Services, Michael Masutha. To no avail. In June FN lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission about the horrifying treatment of an elderly man in jail, nothing came of that. On the 2nd of October Front Nasionaal asked for a meeting with the Minister to discuss the release of Derby-Lewis – no response to this moment. A few days ago the legal team representing Derby-Lewis lodged an appeal to court for an ordinary parole. The Minister stated that he intends to oppose this. Why? Why does the ANC need to keep Derby-Lewis in jail at all cost?
More importantly: Why should Derby-Lewis be released:
1. He already served an effective 21 years in prison. In terms of South African law a sentence of 15 years is generally regarded as having served such a sentence. Oscar Pistorius, a man who handled a firearm and shot a person point-blank was sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years. This man, who was not even present at the scene, has been in jail for more than 2 decades!
2. Derby-Lewis has been receiving medical treatment for skin cancer, prostate cancer, hypertension and a gangrenous spot in his leg for almost 5 years now. He underwent life-saving operations on more than one occasion, the last one only 5 weeks ago. It is inhumane to prolong the incarceration of a harmless, terminally ill elderly man. He is currently one of the oldest inmates in the world and turns 79 in two month’s time. This is beyond the point of inhumanity – this borders on torture. Apart from this, Derby-Lewis is chained to his bed by his feet in an action aimed at humiliating him. What resistance could a 78 year old cancer patient possibly offer?
3. Derby-Lewis indicated at least twice that he would want to meet with the widow of mr Hani to express his regret for his action, thereby indicating that his rehabilitation is complete. These requests mrs Hani refused. It is blatantly obvious that mrs Hani is bent on revenge. After the last petition the reaction was rather favourable and it seemed quite possible that Derby-Lewis could be released – but mrs Hani immediately stepped in and objected. What kind of legal system is this corrupt regime running where an ordinary person can dictate the course of justice by a mere phonecall? Oh yes, we call that “jungle Justice” – I forgot for the moment!
4. Both Derby-Lewis and Walus were attacked by fellow inmates with sharp weapons on two occasions in February and March of 2014. Such an attack could prove to be extremely harmful to Derby-Lewis’s mental and physical health, seeing that he is already 78 years old and in ill health. The treatment received by prison doctors was so poor that he had to undergo surgery 5 weeks ago to remove a piece of glass from his lung which he had been carrying inside his body after the attack in March. For 6 months a terminally ill, vulnerable elderly man had to walk around with a piece of glass in his diseased lung because of the inefficiency of the prison system in the New South Africa. This is beyond words!
5. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission stated that the crime which they were punished for, had no political motive. The prisoners thus qualify for medical parole as was the case with mr Jackie Selebi and mr Schabir Shaik, who were released within a short time-span after their respective sentences were delivered, based on medical reasons. Both of these men were sentenced to jail for crimes committed, both are good friends of Jacob Zuma with Shaik being involved in the scandal relating to the illegal purchase of arms and weapons in which Zuma was also implied. Both men served a period of time in jail which was so short that one could merely laugh about it. And both were released because of “ill-health” – after the release Shaik’s health improved miraculously within 6 days to the extend that he could go play golf! Selebi was released for high blood pressure – a far call from lung cancer in my book! Yet, the terminally ill man is kept in prison. Why?
6. The legal representatives of mr Derby-Lewis already lodged 6 applications for medical parole, to no avail.
7. The current Government of South Africa states proudly that they made Human Rights part of the legacy of a Democratic State. We urge the Government to prove that they are serious about exercising the citizen’s right to humane treatment as protected by the Human Rights Charter. But of course we know, with the ANC ruling this country, that the gap between the tongue and the action is as big as the Grand Canyon!
Why cannot this man be released? Racism – he is white and Selebi and Shaik not? Is that it? Or is the ANC scared of what he might disclose? Is it just an action to further humiliate the Afrikaner/Boer people and rub their noses in the fact that they are a small minority with no rights? Or is it, after all, just another indication of the incompetence, brutality and corruption of this sorry excuse of a government we are stuck with?
By Daniel Lötter (Front Nasionaal – South Africa)
South Africa Today – South Africa News
