Clive Derby-Lewis
Encyclopedia
Clive John Derby-Lewis is a South Africa
n ex-politician, who was involved first in the National Party
and then, while serving as a Member of Parliament
, in the Conservative Party
. He is serving a life sentence for his role in the assassination
of South African Communist Party
leader Chris Hani
. He has been described as a "right-wing extremist" by the Daily Telegraph and as someone who "even by South African standards...has acquired over the years a reputation as a rabid racist" by longtime South Africa commentator John Carlin
. He has repeatedly been denied parole since he began applying in 2007, most recently in August 2011, a decision which he is currently challenging.
, Derby-Lewis is an Afrikaner, with German and Scots ancestry. He grew up in Kimberley
and was educated at the then-Christian Brothers' College. He articled as a chartered accountant and worked for both an accounting firm and an oil company; he also became an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Blessed Sacrament Church in Johannesburg before he left the Catholic Church in the early 1980s. He later joined the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk
(English: Afrikaans Protestant Church), notably as a staunch supporter of Apartheid.
He spent nineteen years as a volunteer in the South African Citizen Force
and became the youngest ever commanding officer
of the Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment
, affiliated with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He was awarded the John Chard
medal for long and meritorious service.
Mini-Council. He served as the member representing Edenvale, Gauteng
, on the Transvaal Provincial Council
(1972–1981) where he spent several years as the National Party spokesman for Education and Hospital Services. He also served on the boards of numerous other bodies including hospitals, primary and high schools, and a school for physically challenged children.
Derby-Lewis was host to Holocaust denier David Irving
in 1986 and 1987.
Through his involvement in politics, he met Gaye Derby-Lewis, a former nun originally from Australia
. They married in 1986. This was his second marriage; from his first, he has two children.
Party Council, in additiona to the council's Information and Financial Committee.
Following his unsuccessful election bid in the Krugersdorp constituency, Derby-Lewis was nominated as a Member of Parliament in 1987 (after the then constitution allowed for political parties to nominate members to the House of Assembly
, in addition to their elected representatives). Derby-Lewis served on a number of parliamentary committees. He also represented the Conservative Party on the Standing Committees of Parliament dealing with the Provincial Affairs of Natal, as well as Trade and Commerce.
When the Conservative Party became the Official Opposition he was appointed Chief Spokesman on Economic Affairs, Technology and Mineral Affairs. He was the only member of the Conservative Party Parliamentary Caucus to have served in all four levels of government in South Africa
.
In September 1989 he was formally appointed to the State President's Council where he served as a member of the Economic Affairs and the Amenities Committees.
He visited London twice in an official Conservative Party delegation, including that of June 1989, which included their leader, Dr.Andries Treurnicht
and Natal party chief Carl Werth. About that time he joined the London-based Western Goals Institute
as an honorary Vice-President, and was one of their delegation to the 22nd World Anti-Communist League
Conference in Brussels
in July 1990.
Derby-Lewis has a long history of racially-inflammatory remarks, a number of which were considered off-putting even by his Conservative Party colleagues who themselves favoured a racially-divided South Africa. In 1989 he claimed in Parliament that "If AIDS
stops Black population growth it will be like Father Christmas
." Similarly, that same year he was overheard remarking "What a pity" in response to a report by a minister that an aircraft had had to brake to avoid a black man on the runway at Johannesburg's airport (he later apologized, claiming it had just "slipped out"). Commenting on this, Andries Beyers (a senior party official at the time) said: "I think sometimes he became an embarrassment to us. He was very, very hardline. He had a calling to bring English-speakers to the CP, but his personal style put them off." Derby-Lewis was defeated after a reelection bid in 1989, and had been in the process of contesting a Krugersdorp by-election at the time of his arrest.
, in the assassination on 10 April 1993 of Chris Hani
, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party
and leader of the African National Congress
' military wing. Derby-Lewis had loaned the gun used in the assassination to Walus. A list of senior ANC and South African Communist Party
figures had been developed allegedly by Arthur Kemp
and included Nelson Mandela
and Joe Slovo
.
Kemp's role in the incident was fully investigated by the South African Police, who were monitored in their investigation by George Churchill-Coleman, the former head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad and Mathews Phosa, prominent ANC lawyer.
Despite ANC input into the investigation of the Hani affair, Kemp was never charged and the subsequent court case found that Kemp had nothing to do with the assassination of Hani. Kemp was subpoenaed to give evidence in the Derby-Lewis trial to confirm a statement given to police by the main accused.
The court found that the list of names which Kemp had provided to the third accused, Gaye Derby-Lewis, was not a 'hit list.' Because of this, Gaye Derby-Lewis was acquitted of all charges and released.
Derby-Lewis was convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to death for his role in the assassination. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when capital punishment was outlawed in 1995. Derby-Lewis confessed his role in the assassination in his application to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty
and testified that the assassination was encouraged or sanctioned by senior leaders of the Conservative Party. In his defence, Derby-Lewis said that he was acting "in defence of my people, who were threatened with a Communist take-over." He added that his Christian faith within the Afrikaanse Protestant Church was central to his decision: "As a Christian, my first duty is to the Almighty God before everything else. We were fighting against communism, and communism is the vehicle of the Antichrist."
The application was denied in April 1999. In 2000, the Cape High Court dismissed an application by Derby-Lewis and Walus to overturn the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's decision.
In June 2010 Derby-Lewis applied for parole on the grounds that he was over 70, and was entitled to parole in terms of South African law for having served in excess of 15 years in prison. In November 2010, Derby-Lewis' lawyer reported that Derby-Lewis was receiving treatment for skin cancer and prostate cancer, hypertension, and for a gangrenous spot in his leg. The Correctional Services department reported that a decision on his parole could be announced in early December.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n ex-politician, who was involved first in the National Party
National Party (South Africa)
The National Party is a former political party in South Africa. Founded in 1914, it was the governing party of the country from 4 June 1948 until 9 May 1994. Members of the National Party were sometimes known as Nationalists or Nats. Its policies included apartheid, the establishment of a...
and then, while serving as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, in the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (South Africa)
The Conservative Party of South Africa was a conservative party formed in 1982 as a breakaway from the ruling National Party...
. He is serving a life sentence for his role in the assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
leader Chris Hani
Chris Hani
Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress . He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government...
. He has been described as a "right-wing extremist" by the Daily Telegraph and as someone who "even by South African standards...has acquired over the years a reputation as a rabid racist" by longtime South Africa commentator John Carlin
John Carlin
John Carlin is a journalist and author, dealing with both sports and politics. His book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation about former South African president Nelson Mandela is the basis for the 2009 film Invictus.-Personal life:Carlin was born to a Scottish father...
. He has repeatedly been denied parole since he began applying in 2007, most recently in August 2011, a decision which he is currently challenging.
Background
Born in Cape TownCape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Derby-Lewis is an Afrikaner, with German and Scots ancestry. He grew up in Kimberley
Kimberley, Northern Cape
Kimberley is a city in South Africa, and the capital of the Northern Cape. It is located near the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers. The town has considerable historical significance due its diamond mining past and siege during the Second Boer War...
and was educated at the then-Christian Brothers' College. He articled as a chartered accountant and worked for both an accounting firm and an oil company; he also became an Extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Blessed Sacrament Church in Johannesburg before he left the Catholic Church in the early 1980s. He later joined the Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk
Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk
The Afrikaanse Protestantse Kerk , commonly abbreviated APK or AP Kerk is a South African conservative Reformed Church federation with about 44,000 adherents...
(English: Afrikaans Protestant Church), notably as a staunch supporter of Apartheid.
He spent nineteen years as a volunteer in the South African Citizen Force
Citizen Force
The Citizen Force was the name of the general military reserve force of several British Commonwealth countries.-Australian:Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen Military Forces, the Militia and,...
and became the youngest ever commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
of the Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment
Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment
The Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment is a mechanized infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit.-History:...
, affiliated with the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). He was awarded the John Chard
John Rouse Merriott Chard
Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard VC was a British Army officer who received the Victoria Cross for his role in the defence of Rorke's Drift in 1879....
medal for long and meritorious service.
Community and Political History
Derby-Lewis joined the National Party and became a town councillor for Bedfordview (1972–1977), Deputy Mayor (1973–1974) and ultimately Mayor (1974–1975), and was made a Freeman of the JohannesburgJohannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
Mini-Council. He served as the member representing Edenvale, Gauteng
Edenvale, Gauteng
Edenvale is a town on the East Rand in Gauteng, South Africa. It started out in 1903, after the Anglo Boer War as a small settlement named Rietfontein which sprung up around the Rietfontein Gold Mine. It was made a municipality in 1942. It was initially populated by Cornish mineworkers. Modern...
, on the Transvaal Provincial Council
Transvaal Provincial Council
The Transvaal Provincial Council was the Transvaal's legislature. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910...
(1972–1981) where he spent several years as the National Party spokesman for Education and Hospital Services. He also served on the boards of numerous other bodies including hospitals, primary and high schools, and a school for physically challenged children.
Derby-Lewis was host to Holocaust denier David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
in 1986 and 1987.
Through his involvement in politics, he met Gaye Derby-Lewis, a former nun originally from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. They married in 1986. This was his second marriage; from his first, he has two children.
Parliamentary History
Derby-Lewis was a founder member of the Conservative Party at the time of its split from the National Party in 1982, due to what was perceived by Derby-Lewis and others as a softening of the government's apartheid policies of racial segregation and discrimination. He was a member of the new party's General Council and Parliamentary Caucus until 1993. He also served on the TransvaalTransvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
Party Council, in additiona to the council's Information and Financial Committee.
Following his unsuccessful election bid in the Krugersdorp constituency, Derby-Lewis was nominated as a Member of Parliament in 1987 (after the then constitution allowed for political parties to nominate members to the House of Assembly
House of Assembly of South Africa
The House of Assembly was the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa from 1910 to 1984, and latterly the white representative house of the Tricameral Parliament from 1984 to 1994, when it was replaced by the current National Assembly...
, in addition to their elected representatives). Derby-Lewis served on a number of parliamentary committees. He also represented the Conservative Party on the Standing Committees of Parliament dealing with the Provincial Affairs of Natal, as well as Trade and Commerce.
When the Conservative Party became the Official Opposition he was appointed Chief Spokesman on Economic Affairs, Technology and Mineral Affairs. He was the only member of the Conservative Party Parliamentary Caucus to have served in all four levels of government in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
In September 1989 he was formally appointed to the State President's Council where he served as a member of the Economic Affairs and the Amenities Committees.
He visited London twice in an official Conservative Party delegation, including that of June 1989, which included their leader, Dr.Andries Treurnicht
Andries Treurnicht
Andries Petrus Treurnicht was a South African politician, Minister of Education during the Soweto Riots and for a short time leader of the National Party in Transvaal...
and Natal party chief Carl Werth. About that time he joined the London-based Western Goals Institute
Western Goals Institute
The Western Goals Institute was a conservative pressure group in Britain, re-formed in 1989 from Western Goals UK, which originated in 1985 as an offshoot of the U.S. Western Goals Foundation...
as an honorary Vice-President, and was one of their delegation to the 22nd World Anti-Communist League
World Anti-Communist League
The World League for Freedom and Democracy is an international anti-communist political organization founded in 1966 in Taipei, Republic of China , under the initiative of Chiang Kai-shek. It was founded with the aim of opposing Communism around the world through "unconventional" methods...
Conference in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in July 1990.
Derby-Lewis has a long history of racially-inflammatory remarks, a number of which were considered off-putting even by his Conservative Party colleagues who themselves favoured a racially-divided South Africa. In 1989 he claimed in Parliament that "If AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
stops Black population growth it will be like Father Christmas
Father Christmas
Father Christmas is the name used in many English-speaking countries for a figure associated with Christmas. A similar figure with the same name exists in several other countries, including France , Spain , Brazil , Portugal , Italy , Armenia , India...
." Similarly, that same year he was overheard remarking "What a pity" in response to a report by a minister that an aircraft had had to brake to avoid a black man on the runway at Johannesburg's airport (he later apologized, claiming it had just "slipped out"). Commenting on this, Andries Beyers (a senior party official at the time) said: "I think sometimes he became an embarrassment to us. He was very, very hardline. He had a calling to bring English-speakers to the CP, but his personal style put them off." Derby-Lewis was defeated after a reelection bid in 1989, and had been in the process of contesting a Krugersdorp by-election at the time of his arrest.
Assassination of Chris Hani
Derby-Lewis was arrested for aiding and abetting a Polish anti-communist immigrant to South Africa, Janusz WalusJanusz Walus
Janusz Waluś is a Polish immigrant to South Africa who assassinated South African Communist Party chairman Chris Hani on April 10, 1993....
, in the assassination on 10 April 1993 of Chris Hani
Chris Hani
Chris Hani, born Martin Thembisile Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party and chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress . He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government...
, General Secretary of the South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
and leader of the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
' military wing. Derby-Lewis had loaned the gun used in the assassination to Walus. A list of senior ANC and South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party
South African Communist Party is a political party in South Africa. It was founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa by the joining together of the International Socialist League and others under the leadership of Willam H...
figures had been developed allegedly by Arthur Kemp
Arthur Kemp
Arthur Benjamin Kemp is a prominent British white separatist, writer, speaker, activist and political figure who has been the Foreign Affairs Spokesperson for the British National Party and was responsible for the content of that party's website. He was born in Southern Rhodesia and worked as a...
and included Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
and Joe Slovo
Joe Slovo
For Joe Slovo Informal Settlement in Cape Town, see: Joe Slovo .Joe Slovo was a South African politician, long-time leader of the South African Communist Party , and leading member of the African National Congress.-Life:Slovo was born in Obeliai, Lithuania to a Jewish family who emigrated to South...
.
Kemp's role in the incident was fully investigated by the South African Police, who were monitored in their investigation by George Churchill-Coleman, the former head of Scotland Yard's anti-terrorist squad and Mathews Phosa, prominent ANC lawyer.
Despite ANC input into the investigation of the Hani affair, Kemp was never charged and the subsequent court case found that Kemp had nothing to do with the assassination of Hani. Kemp was subpoenaed to give evidence in the Derby-Lewis trial to confirm a statement given to police by the main accused.
The court found that the list of names which Kemp had provided to the third accused, Gaye Derby-Lewis, was not a 'hit list.' Because of this, Gaye Derby-Lewis was acquitted of all charges and released.
Derby-Lewis was convicted of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to death for his role in the assassination. The sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when capital punishment was outlawed in 1995. Derby-Lewis confessed his role in the assassination in his application to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission for amnesty
Amnesty
Amnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent people, without changing the laws defining the offense. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the...
and testified that the assassination was encouraged or sanctioned by senior leaders of the Conservative Party. In his defence, Derby-Lewis said that he was acting "in defence of my people, who were threatened with a Communist take-over." He added that his Christian faith within the Afrikaanse Protestant Church was central to his decision: "As a Christian, my first duty is to the Almighty God before everything else. We were fighting against communism, and communism is the vehicle of the Antichrist."
The application was denied in April 1999. In 2000, the Cape High Court dismissed an application by Derby-Lewis and Walus to overturn the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's decision.
In June 2010 Derby-Lewis applied for parole on the grounds that he was over 70, and was entitled to parole in terms of South African law for having served in excess of 15 years in prison. In November 2010, Derby-Lewis' lawyer reported that Derby-Lewis was receiving treatment for skin cancer and prostate cancer, hypertension, and for a gangrenous spot in his leg. The Correctional Services department reported that a decision on his parole could be announced in early December.