Johnathan Paoli
During the 31st Commemoration of anti-apartheid struggle hero Chris Hani’s death, his widow Limpho Hani spoke about the failures of the ruling party, while the leaders of the Tripartite Alliance contend that Hani would be proud of the ANC’s achievements.
Political parties, family members, friends and supporters gathered at the Thomas Titus Nkobi Memorial Park in Ekurhuleni on Wednesday to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the death of struggle icon, Chris Hani.
The former SACP general secretary was assassinated in broad daylight by right-wing extremist Janusz Waluś on 10 April 1993 outside his Boksburg home. Waluś and his accomplice Clive Derby-Lewis were initially sentenced to death after their arrest but their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.
The Constitutional Court ordered Waluś’ release on parole in November 2022, despite four previous attempts, and while the hit was linked to the Conservative Party, a lot of details surrounding the assassination remain unknown.
Limpho Hani, widow to the struggle icon, gave an address about the current state of South Africa and said that some values Hani advocated for before his assassination have been neglected by the government.
“It was not worth his life. It was not worth me being a widow. It was not worth my children being fatherless and his grandchildren never knowing him. This government has failed him and all of us. I assure you that countless of our people have died for our so-called freedom. I can tell you this was not what they had in mind when they laid down their life,” Hani said.
Hani’s widow said that she would like to request to whoever becomes president after the elections not to have a bloated Cabinet and that voters should be able to vote for their preferred candidates directly and not for representatives who are beholden to political parties.
The ANC Secretary General Fikile April Mbalula praised the fallen hero as representing the very core of revolutionary transformation within the country and said he would have assisted in the challenges and obstacles faced by South Africa.
“Comrade Chris Hani was the epitome of revolutionary morality, whose heart and mind were always one with the toiling masses of our people. Comrade Chris Hani would have undoubtedly appreciated the gravity of domestic and international challenges arrayed against our national transformation agenda, and would have provided ideological and political clarity on how to navigate them,” Mbalula said.
He said that as the Chief of Staff of Umkhonto weSizwe, Hani led the armed wing of the ANC formed in conjunction with the SACP and that this fact must be amplified against the lies currently being told about the formation of the MK, in a reference to the MK party.
Mbalula said that the ruling party leaders, volunteers and supporters can draw strength that Chris Hani would have urged them in line with the slogan: “Let’s do more, together!” towards a decisive ANC electoral victory and effective defence of the gains of the country’s democracy.
The SG said that the gathering was in the presence of a hero of the masses of the people, whose life was cut short by forces bent on preserving white supremacy on the eve of the country’s democratic breakthrough.
Mbalula said Hani would have been proud of the continued unity of the Tripartite Alliance in advancing the National Democratic Revolution (NDR) and specifically the unity of purpose in the Alliance as characterised by the complete support for an ANC electoral victory.
SACP leader and Minister of Higher Education and Training Blade Nzimande said the struggle hero would have been proud of the government’s achievements, but that certain challenges remained with unemployment, economic growth and social ills such as gender-based violence.
“As a government, we want to say today, Boet Chris would be very proud of our achievements, of course we are under no illusion that we still have a lot to do, to take forward,” Minister Nzimande said.
Nzimande said that Hani hated corruption and so did the ANC and that all those implicated in state capture must be dealt with and not be allowed to run away from accountability.
General Secretary of the SACP, Solly Mapaila, said that as a socialist country, South Africa was fighting a war not simply against those who wish to undermine the revolutionary movement, but against capitalism itself and should take the fight forward following the May elections.
The GS said that the recent tensions surrounding the use of the military wing’s logo and reputation was unacceptable.
“There’s no MK that isn’t under the ANC. This is evil and unacceptable, in military terms, this is provocation. You can never separate us from MK,” Mapaila said.
Union federation COSATU’s first Deputy President Michael Shingange representing the workers federation, delivered a message of support at the commemoration and said that COSATU stood with the alliance in the ongoing struggle for realising revolutionary transformation within the country.
In addition, speaking during the wreath-laying ceremony, ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said Hani would never be forgotten.
“It’s a day that holds a lot of memories and triggers some emotion in some of us who grew up inspired by the struggle and his actions. He was a humble soul,” Bhengu-Motsiri said.
The ceremony is expected to culminate in a community meeting of Ward 43 in the Grace Flathela Zone later in the day.
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