Janusz Walus' daughter gives him an ultimatum

Ewa Walus is visiting South Africa in support of negotiations over the potential deportation of her father Janusz to Poland, while sharing the devastating effect his crime had on the family.

She has also revealed to eNCA host Annika Larsen that if he wants a relationship with her there is a specific condition she is imposing.

“He knows I have [liberal] political sympathies in Poland. If he decides to go into politics on the extreme rightwing, our relationship will end.”

Walus, 71, a Pole who immigrated to South Africa to escape communism, joined rightwing extremists and plotted with Conservative Party MP Clive Derby-Lewis to assassinate SACP leader Chris Hani in the driveway of his home in Boksburg on April 10 1993. 

He spent close to 30 years behind bars before being released on parole in December 2022 under strict conditions and ordered to serve two years of community corrections.

Ewa Walus is supporting his bid to return to Poland to live out the rest of his life, despite saying she has endured prejudice due to their connection.

“Lindiwe Hani told me once we lost our fathers on the same day, it was beautiful and I am grateful to her for that.

“He paid his price, he has served his sentence. [His crime] had an effect on my own image, that people think I share his views. I am completely opposite. However, he is still my father.”

Walus left his daughter and ex-wife in Poland when his child was three years old. She last saw him in 1992 when he visited his home country.

On seeing him this month for the first time in more than three decades, his daughter said: “It was emotional for me. Despite all the differences between us, the instinct [to hug] was from both sides.”

Asked during the interview if he had shown remorse for murdering Hani, she responded: “He didn't show it to me, it doesn't mean he does not feel it.” 

To the question “is he a racist?", she responded: “I'm afraid he is.”

She is hoping he will adjust his stance when he is in Poland, putting the need to foster a relationship with his family above politics. She added Polish politics have also changed, with only 7% holding rightwing sentiments.

A single mother, she says her 10-year-old daughter does not want to meet him. “I don't know what the effect of this case will be on my daughter, I don't know how to protect her. My skin is now hard but she is still young.”

Despite this, she is hoping her father will want to build a relationship with them.

“He understands what he has lost. I've been helping him [fundraising to pay legal bills and to negotiate for a return to Poland] because I hope he will want to spend the rest of his life with his family.

“In Poland they call him the ice man because of the colour of his eyes [and the cold expression depicted in a photograph during the trial]. But he is able to look with love.

“It's about communication. We will never be able to speak like father and daughter who spent a lifetime together, because we met as adults.”

TimesLIVE reported previously that in papers filed to the Constitutional Court during his bid for parole, Walus pledged he had turned over a new leaf.

“I have great remorse in respect of what I have done. I realise today that it was completely unacceptable. Ever since my incarceration I have returned to my Roman Catholic faith which has helped me fully understand my wrongdoings. I have accepted the new SA, its constitution and its constitutional dispensation,” Walus said.

“I have had lots of interaction with many different persons of different races in prison, and I have come to realise that apartheid was wrong and that all persons are born equal and I reject racism in any form.

“I have demonstrated that I have become completely rehabilitated, that I will not repeat such a crime, a similar offence, or any crime for that matter again in future. I am genuinely sorry for what I have done.”

Senior Polish officials told the Sunday Times last year they supported his repatriation, with one source saying: “He spent enough time in prison, he’s old. I don’t think he will hurt anybody else.”

TimesLIVE