Friday marks 27 years since the passing of South African Communist Party (SACP) General Secretary, Chris Hani at his Boskburg home in Gauteng. His death left the country in shock and continues to cause pain within the Hani family.
Hani died at the heart of a transition from Apartheid to a democratic South Africa.
Chris Hani, a leader who stood firm against the authorities of a brutal apartheid government of South Africa. He was brutally murdered at the drive-way of his Boksburg home on Gauteng’s East Rand, on April 10 in 1993.
His killer, Janusz Walus is still behind bars, with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services, Ronald Lamola being the latest to deny Walus parole. While his family, including his wife, Limpho Hani remain inconsolable for their loss, the rest of South Africa can only imagine how he would have contributed to the country’s politics after the dawn of democracy.
27 years later, South Africans did not commemorate his death as per the tradition due to the country’s lockdown implemented to curb the spread of coronavirus.
This year, his loved ones and supporters haven’t been able to commemorate his death as they have for the past 26 years.
Doctor Blade Nzimande, SACP General Secretary, says Hani’s death will continue to having South African hearts bleeding.
“Talking about the importance of continuing to remember the late Chris Hani – because of this important role he played in liberating South Africa; and how his untimely death will continue to have the hearts of South Africans bleed due to the violent nature in which he was killed in 1993,” says Nzimande.
Cosatu, which is also an ally within the African National Congress (ANC)-led tripartite alliance, has weighed in remembering Chris Hani.
Bheki NtshaliNtshali, Cosatu General Secretary, says he remembers Hani’s discipline.
“As we remember comrade Chris, his discipline, his way of communicating difficult messages to our people, Cosatu can only say this to our people and the Chris family, ‘we’ll never forget the contribution which Chris has made to South Africans, particularly the working class and the poor,'” says NtshaliNtshali.
