Mandela grandson protests release of anti-apartheid leader Hani's killer

A small group of demonstrators gathered outside South Africa's parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday to protest against the release from prison of the man who killed anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993.

A small group of demonstrators gathered outside South Africa's parliament in Cape Town on Wednesday to protest against the release from prison of the man who killed anti-apartheid leader Chris Hani in 1993. Janusz Walus, a Polish citizen, was granted parole last week after serving nearly 30 years of his life sentence for shooting Hani at point-blank range outside his home. Hani's murder had triggered nationwide riots.

One of Nelson Mandela's grandsons, Mandla Mandela, stood among a handful of black-clad demonstrators raising slogans outside parliament. He recalled Hani's close working relationship with the late Mandela, South Africa's first Black president.

"This release of a murderer of a hero of our struggle for liberation invokes painful memories of the past," Mandela told Reuters, saying such killers should be "locked up for life". Larger demonstrations took place outside a prison in the capital Pretoria where Walus, who is recovering from a prison stabbing, is still being held.

"He should not come out," protestor Nontokozo Shezi said. "He can't kill our leader and then think he can go home."