SA government has failed Chris Hani, says widow as Alliance remembers him

Chris Hani’s widow, Limpho Hani, has slammed the ANC government for having failed her husband and what he stood for.

Hani, who took part in various celebrations in her husband’s memory, said his death was not worth them growing without their father.

The ANC and its alliance partners hosted a wreath laying ceremony spearheaded by ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula and other leaders, including Solly Mapaila, at Thomas Nkobi Memorial Park in Germiston.

“This government has failed him. and all of us. I assure you that countless of our people have died for our so called freedom.

“This is not what they had in mind when they laid down their lives. It was not worth his life. It was not worth me being a widow,” Hani said.

“It was not worth my children being fatherless and it was not worth my grandchildren not knowing him,” she said while being hosted by the City of Ekurhuleni during a ceremony held in his memory.

Hani was gunned down on April 10, 1993 at the age of 51. At the time, he was the general-secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), and a member of the ANC’s national executive committee.

Wednesday marked 31 years since the passing of the SACP and ANC leader at his home in Dawn Park, Ekurhuleni.

Hani met his untimely demise when he was gunned down by Polish-born Janusz Walus in the driveway of his home in Boksburg in April 1993.

SACP leader and ANC MP, Dr Blade Nzimande, said Hani hated corruption in as much as the ANC does.

“Comrade Hani hated corruption. So does the ANC. We do need to do all we can to ensure that those implicated to have their hands dirty in the corporate capture of the state must be dealt with.

“We must not allow them to use any excuses or any methods to try to run away from accounting for their crimes,” he said.

Nzimande said in spite of the challenges of the past 31 years since Hani’s passing and the country’s political freedom, there have been many achievements that the commander of the Umkhonto weSizwe would have been proud of.

“As government, we want to say today, Chris, as some of us would call him, would have been very proud of these achievements. Of course, we are under no illusion that we still have a lot to do to take this country forward,” he said.

Mbalula said Hani epitomised morality and what is good about leadership.

“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,“ he added.

The Star

siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za

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