If we forgive Zuma, should Chris Hani's killer Janusz Walus be forgiven too?

The ANC and President Jacob Zuma's praise singers in the ANC insist he should be forgiven for violating the constitution.  By doing so they have brought division and the country to the brink of a constitutional crises.

But the ANC are adamant Chris Hani's killer, Januz Walus, will never be forgiven.  If he is granted parole, which was done in terms of a high court ruling, MK veterans say they will take the law into their own hands.

Of course, as far as the ANC is concerned, the law and constitution applies to everyone else except them.  Alternatively, they are happy to use it when it serves their own ends.

Can one compare the murder of a husband and comrade to that of the president wiping his arse on the constitution?  That's a constitutional value judgement.  I'm not being insensitive, either. 

A family friend, a Catholic priest, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death in his Ennerdale, Johannesburg rectory.  The incompetent police (the responding officer was allegedly inebriated and they messed up the crime scene) never brought his killers, suspected gang members, to justice.

Another friend was bludgeoned and left for dead in her Philippi, Cape Town home.  Her facial bones required extensive reconstruction; she never fully recovered.  The police never bothered to take a statement from her, or investigate.

Had the perpetrators been indicted and found guilty, they should have remained in jail forever. 

We may not like it but our law says parole may be granted after serving less than the full term.  Most of us respect the law, but I guess a different standard applies to the ANC.

I understand Hani's family being upset, but less so the ANC and government's reaction.  

And those threats are incendiary.

Updated with link to Business Day Live opinion page.