Clive John Derby-Lewis (22 January 1936 – 3 November 2016) was a South African politician, who was involved first in the National Party and then, while serving as a member of parliament, in the Conservative Party. In 1993 he was convicted of conspiracy to murder South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani and sentenced to life imprisonment. Derby-Lewis was 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 journalist and South Africa commentator John Carlin. He was repeatedly denied parole after he began applying in 2010, after objections from the Hani family. After his parole was declined multiple times, his appeal was taken to court where the judge granted him medical parole on 29 May 2015. He was released from prison in June 2015 after serving 22 years, due to terminal lung cancer. He died from the disease on 3 November 2016. Background Derby-Lewis, who was born in Cape Town, was a South African 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), notable 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. He was awarded the John Chard 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 Johannesburg 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. Through his involvement in politics, he met Gaye Derby-Lewis, a former nun originally from Australia. They married in 1986. This was his