Chris Hani's assassin could become a member of parliament in Poland, two years after his deportation

Janusz Waluś, convicted in South Africa for the assassination of Chris Hani, general secretary of the South African Communist Party, could run in the Polish legislative elections in the autumn of 2027. The Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported in April 2026 that the Confederation of the Polish Crown (KKP), a far-right party led by MEP Grzegorz Braun, is considering placing him on its lists, information reiterated on October 12, 2026, by the South African media outlet GroundUp.

Twenty-nine years in prison, then a return to Poland

Chris Hani, one of the great figures of the anti-apartheid struggle, was shot dead in front of his home on April 10, 1993, on Easter Saturday. Waluś, a Polish immigrant to South Africa, was sentenced to death, a sentence commuted to life imprisonment after the abolition of the death penalty. In November 2022, the South African Constitutional Court ordered his release; he was released from prison on December 7, 2022, after twenty-nine years of detention, then spent two years on parole before being deported to Poland on December 6, 2024. Grzegorz Braun came to meet him at Warsaw airport.

A murder he describes as "necessary"

In interviews granted since his return, including one lasting more than two hours on the Kanał Zero channel, Waluś reaffirmed that the murder was "necessary," spoke of a "white race" he deems more capable of administration, and labeled Nelson Mandela a "terrorist," reports GroundUp. Ultras from Legia Warsaw welcomed him as a hero.

Nothing in Polish law blocks his candidacy

According to Wojciech Hermeliński, former head of the Polish electoral commission cited by Gazeta Prawna, the conviction handed down in South Africa does not prevent a candidacy: Polish law only excludes individuals convicted of an intentional crime by a Polish court. Waluś has never been tried in Poland.

The KKP is polling at 7 to 11% in surveys. Its leader, who has been prosecuted several times, notably for Holocaust denial, finished fourth in the 2025 presidential election with more than 6% of the vote, with the support of Waluś. Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the PiS, says he refuses any cooperation with Braun, whom he deems "very dangerous." Historian Antoni Dudek accuses him of serving as a "fifth column" for Moscow in Poland.

Two daughters, two breakups

Lindiwe Hani, Chris Hani's daughter, had visited Waluś in prison starting in 2016 and asked him to stay out of politics; he refused. His own daughter, Ewa Waluś, a journalist, has cut all contact with him, believing he could become dangerous for the country. Waluś did not respond to GroundUp's requests for comment at the time of publication.

The case goes far beyond the trajectory of one man. It raises a question that South Africa, and the continent with it, has not finished resolving: can a crime committed to defend apartheid become, three decades later, a campaign argument in Europe? The name of Chris Hani belongs to the history of African liberation. That of his murderer risks appearing on a ballot.