Clive Derby-Lewis, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of former general secretary of the Communist Party Chris Hani, has died at the age of 80.
He passed away after a long battle with lung cancer.
His wife, Gaye, confirmed the news this afternoon.
Derby-Lewis was a founding member of the Conservative Party after its split from the National Party in 1982.
Hani was gunned down outside his home by Polish truck driver and co-conspirator Janusz Walus, and both Walus and Derby-Lewis were sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating his murder on April 10 1993.
After several failed attempts at applying for medical parole, the North Gauteng High Court granted him parole on May 29 last year and he was eventually released from prison in June 2015.
News channel eNCA‚ quoted his wife‚ Gaye‚ as saying‚ “he was good man who was honest and respectable”.
She added: “He was under house arrest for 18 months. My husband is finally free.”
In May 2015, Derby-Lewis was released on medical parole and he went home, reportedly with terminal lung cancer.
He had unsuccessfully applied for parole since 2010.
In June 2010 he applied for parole on the grounds that he was older than 70 and was entitled to parole as he had spent more than 15 years in prison.
Later that year it was reported that he was receiving treatment for skin cancer and prostate cancer, hypertension, and for a gangrenous spot in his leg. He was denied medical parole in 2011, 2013 and again in January 2015. – Additional reporting by News24
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