PRETORIA (Reuters) – Apartheid death-squad leader Eugene de Kock, dubbed ‘Prime Evil’ for his role in the torture and murder of black South African activists in the 1980s and early 1990s, was granted parole on Friday after 20 years in prison.
Justice minister Michael Masutha told a news conference that de Kock would be released “in the interests of nation-building” and because he had expressed remorse at his crimes and had helped authorities recover the remains of some of his victims.
Clive Derby-Lewis denied parole
Clive Derby-Lewis, jailed for life for his role in SACP leader Chris Hani’s murder, will however not be released on parole, he told reporters in Pretoria.
Masutha was unable to make a decision on Ferdi Barnard, a former apartheid-era Civil Co-Operation Bureau agent found guilty 17 years ago of murdering anti-apartheid activist David Webster.
“In the circumstances no decision has been made on Mr Barnard’s applications,” said Masutha.
“The NCCS (National Council of Correctional Services) has written to me to indicate they need more time to consider the application and has been unable to submit recommendations to me.”
Webster, an anthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, was gunned down outside his home in Troyeville, Johannesburg, in 1989. Barnard was convicted of the killing almost a decade later.
He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of another activist, Dullah Omar, who went on to serve in both former presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki’s cabinets.
Barnard was sentenced to two life terms plus a further 63 years in jail, and is currently jailed in Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru II Prison.
Source : Sapa /gq/mar/th
