Janusz Waluś stabbed by prison inmate

Chris Hani's killer Janusz Waluś was stabbed in prison just before 5pm on Tuesday.

This is according to three independent sources who spoke to Sowetan today.

The extent of his injury is not yet known but according to those inside Kgosi Mampuru II Correctional Centre in Tshwane, Walus was rushed to a hospital within the prison.

One insider said: "Janusz Waluś was stabbed. How bad, I don't have the details. They took him to hospital which was confirmed by a member of EST [emergency support team].

"He was stabbed in his section of the prison. The guy who stabbed him is a former soldier who is also a lifer like Waluś," the insider said.

While the reports are officially unconfirmed, Waluś was stabbed on the eve of his expected release after the Constitutional Court ordered he be released on parole.

Waluś, who was convicted of life imprisonment for the assassination of the anti-apartheid Struggle activist Chris Hani, had told prison insiders he was expected to be released on Thursday.

On Monday, home affairs minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi said Waluś would not be deported, saying he had been granted an exemption to serve out his parole in SA.

Motsoaledi said the exemption was granted in 2020 during Waluś's previous attempts at being granted parole.

The insider continued: "The guy who stabbed Waluś is a former soldier for the SA National Defence Force but has a political history because when we had a family and we wanted to support him in his ConCourt case, the guy was opposed to it. He said Waluś killed his comrade.

"We're currently in lock up which happened later than usual," an inmate said.

A second insider, a warden, confirmed that Waluś was stabbed while a third insider, also a warden, corroborated the others, saying that extra security had been deployed to the central Pretoria prison.

The central prison is a facility that keeps lifers, those studying through Unisa and other TVET colleges, and who are kept in maximum to medium security single cell facilities.

Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo could not immediately confirm the incident, saying he was looking for the prison's area commissioner.