:Chris Hani

{{short description|South African revolutionary and anti-apartheid activist (1942-1993)}}

{{About||the district in Eastern Cape |Chris Hani District Municipality|the settlement in Western Cape|Chris Hani, Western Cape}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Chris Hani

| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=ZAR|SSAG|SBS|CLS|DMG|MMS|size=100%}}

| image = Chris Hani.jpg

| caption = Portrait of Chris Hani

| order = 11th

| office = South African Communist Party#General Secretaries{{!}}General Secretary of the South African Communist Party

| term_start = 1991

| term_end = 1993

| predecessor = Joe Slovo

| successor = Charles Nqakula

| office1 = Chief of Staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe

| term_start1 = 1987

| term_end1 = 1992

| president1 = {{ubl|Oliver Tambo|Nelson Mandela}}

| predecessor1 = {{ubl|Joe Slovo|Keith Mokoape (acting)}}

| successor1 = Siphiwe Nyanda

| birthname = Martin Thembisile Hani

| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|06|28|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Cofimvaba, South Africa

| death_date = {{death date and age|1993|04|10|1942|06|28|df=yes}}

| death_place = Boksburg, South Africa

| death_cause = Assassination

| party = South African Communist Party

| otherparty = African National Congress (Tripartite Alliance)

| spouse = {{marriage|Limpho Hani|1973}}

| children = 3

| occupation = {{hlist|Revolutionary|politician|military veteran|activist}}

| awards = {{MilAward Ribbon|SSAG|size=x12px}}

| nickname = Chris

| allegiance = {{ubl|Umkhonto We Sizwe|Soviet Union (1963)|Zambia (1967)}}

| branch = {{ubli|Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army|South African National Defence Force}}

| serviceyears = 1962–1992

| rank = {{ubl|Commander|Political commissar (1967)}}

| battles = Rhodesian Bush War

| mawards = {{MilAward Stack|SBS|CLS|DMG|MMS|MKSMG|MKSMS|MKSMB|size=x12px}}

}}{{Apartheid}}

Chris Hani (28 June 1942{{snd}}10 April 1993;{{Cite web|title=My Life, An autobiography written in 1991|author=Chris Hani|work=SA Communist Party|date=1991|access-date=3 November 2016|url=http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=2294|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225112546/http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?ID=2294|archive-date=25 February 2017|url-status=dead}} born Martin Thembisile Hani {{postnominals|country=ZAR|size=100%|sep=,|SSAG|SBS|CLS|DMG|MMS}}) was a South African military commander, politician and revolutionary who served as the leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and chief of staff of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). He was a fierce opponent of the apartheid government, and was assassinated by Janusz Waluś, a Polish immigrant and sympathiser of the Conservative opposition on 10 April 1993, during the unrest preceding the transition to democracy.{{Cite web|url=https://omalley.nelsonmandela.org/omalley/index.php/site/q/03lv02424/04lv03370/05lv03422.htm|title=The Death of Chris Hani: An African Misadventure - The O'Malley Archives|website=omalley.nelsonmandela.org|access-date=2019-02-04}}

Early life

Martin Thembisile Hani was born on 28 June 1942 in the Xhosa village in Cofimvaba, Transkei. His father Gilbert Hani was a mine union worker and political activist who left the country to go into exile in 1962 and returned to South Africa in 1991. His mother Mary Hani was a simple person who had never attended school. He was the fifth of six children. He attended Lovedale school in 1957, to finish his last two years. He twice finished two school grades in a single year. When Hani was 12 years old, after hearing his father's explanations about apartheid and the African National Congress (ANC), he wished to join the ANC but was still too young to be accepted.{{Cite book|title=Chris Hani|last=Van Wyk|first=Chris|publisher=Awareness publishing|year=2003|isbn=1919910131|location=South Africa|page=13}} In Lovedale school, Hani joined the ANC Youth League when he was 15 years old, even though political activities were not allowed at black schools under apartheid. He influenced other students to join the ANC. In an interview in 1993 with Luli Callinicos, Hani revealed that he was first involved with the Unity movement. He was influenced to align with the ANC due to the activism of the party concerning mass struggles. He mentioned writers such as Govan Mbeki who played a critical role in his political conversion.{{Cite web |title=Chris Hani interviewed by Luli Callinicos (Johannesburg), 23 and 31 March 1993 {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/chris-hani-interviewed-luli-callinicos-johannesburg-23-and-31-march-1993 |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}

In 1959, at the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, Hani studied English, Latin and modern and classical literature.{{cite web|url=http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa-BioChrisHani-a.htm|title=Martin Thembisile (Chris) Hani|publisher=About.com|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-date=19 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519051018/http://africanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa-BioChrisHani-a.htm|url-status=dead}} He did not participate in any sport, saying: "I would rather fight apartheid than play sport." Hani, in an interview on the Wankie campaign, mentioned that he was a Rhodes University graduate.{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGKhN2BL1-U|title=Leaders-Chris Hani|location=22:04}}

Political and military career

At the age of 15, he joined the ANC Youth League. As a student, he was active in protests against the Bantu Education Act. He worked as a clerk for a law firm. In 1961, Hani joined a communist party lead by Comrade Mbeki where he first started learning and reading about Marxism. Following his graduation, he joined Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the armed wing of the ANC. He credited his commitment to the MK as a result of his exposure to the extreme side of apartheid during his upbringing. Hani said, "I didn't get involved with the workers' struggle out of theory alone. It was a combination of theory and my own class background".{{Cite web |title=Chris Hani interviewed by Luli Callinicos (Johannesburg), 23 and 31 March 1993 {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/chris-hani-interviewed-luli-callinicos-johannesburg-23-and-31-march-1993 |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}} Following his arrest under the Suppression of Communism Act, he went into exile in Lesotho in 1963. Because of Hani's involvement with Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was forced into hiding by the South African government and changed his first name to Chris.

He received military training in the Soviet Union and served in campaigns in the Zimbabwean War of Liberation, also called the Rhodesian Bush War. They were joint operations between Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army in the late 1960s. The Luthuli Detachment operation consolidated Hani's reputation as a soldier in the black army that took the field against apartheid and its allies. His role as a fighter from the earliest days of MK's exile (following the arrest of Nelson Mandela and the other internal MK leaders at Rivonia) was an important part in the fierce loyalty that Hani later enjoyed in some quarters as MK's Deputy Commander (Joe Modise was overall commander). In 1969, Hani co-signed, with six others, the "Hani Memorandum", which was strongly critical of the leadership of Joe Modise, Moses Kotane and other comrades in the leadership.[http://www.transformation.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/transformation/article/view/1015/830 The ‘Hani Memorandum’ – introduced and annotated by Hugh Macmillan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130125053818/http://www.transformation.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/transformation/article/view/1015/830 |date=25 January 2013 }}, Transformation, 2009. This memorandum was also a cry to radicalize the anti-apartheid movement in the ANC. Hani saw the overreliance on diplomatic negotiations as inefficient and was critical of the separation between the leaders of the ANC and the fighters of the MK. Hani stressed the fact in the memorandum by saying, "the ANC is the vanguard of the revolutionary struggle in South Africa and it is strange that its leaders have not been obliged to take the M.K. oath". Hani and the signatories of the memorandum aimed to unite both parties while also holding leaders of the ANC accountable for complacency.{{Cite web |title=The Original Chris Hani Memorandum {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/original-chris-hani-memorandum |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}}

In Lesotho, Hani organised guerrilla operations of the MK in South Africa. By 1982, he had become prominent enough to have become the target of assassination attempts, and he eventually moved to the ANC's headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia. As head of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was responsible for the suppression of a mutiny by dissident anti-Communist ANC members in detention camps, but denied any role in abuses including torture and murder. Many MK female operatives, such as Dipuo Mvelase, adored Chris Hani for having protected women's rights and caring about their wellbeing at military camps.{{cite web|url=https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2008-10-07-underground-fight-for-sa/|title=Underground fight for SA|work=SowetanLIVE |date=7 October 2008|publisher=The Sowetan}}

Having spent time as a clandestine organiser in South Africa in the mid-1970s, he permanently returned to South Africa following the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, and took over from Joe Slovo as head of the South African Communist Party (SACP) on 8 December 1991.{{Cite web|title=Chris Hani is elected SACP Secretary {{!}} South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/chris-hani-elected-sacp-secretary|access-date=2021-09-04|website=www.sahistory.org.za}} He supported the suspension of the ANC's armed struggle in favour of negotiations,{{cite web|url=http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?include=docs/biography/2006/hani.html|title=My Life|first=Chris|last=Hani|publisher=South African Communist Party|date=February 1991|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040336/http://www.sacp.org.za/main.php?include=docs%2Fbiography%2F2006%2Fhani.html|archive-date=28 September 2007|url-status=dead}} as well as including a multi-party political system. Hani also pushed for radical economic reform in South Africa. He put great effort in advocating for a socialist economy. Social redistribution as well as protecting labor rights were central in Hani's push to improve the South African economy post apartheid. In an interview in 1993, Hani explained how creating a socio economic restructure would be a massive job for South Africans.{{Cite web |date=2014-04-10 |title=Chris Hani’s black Marxism |url=https://africasacountry.com/2023/05/chris-hanis-black-marxism |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=africasacountry.com |language=en-US}}

Assassination

Chris Hani was assassinated on 10 April 1993 outside his home in Dawn Park, a racially mixed suburb of Boksburg. He was accosted by a Polish far-right anti-communist immigrant named Janusz Waluś, who shot him as he stepped out of his car.{{cite book|last=Atkins|first=Stephen E.|title=Encyclopedia of Modern worldwide extremists and extremist groups|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki|url-access=registration|year=2004|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313324857|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmo0000atki/page/12 12]–}} Waluś fled the scene but was soon arrested after Margareta Harmse, a white Afrikaner housewife, saw Waluś straight after the crime as she was driving past, and called the police. A neighbour of Hani also witnessed the crime and later identified both Waluś, and the vehicle he was driving at the time. Clive Derby-Lewis, a senior South African Conservative Party MP and Shadow Minister for Economic Affairs at the time, who had lent Waluś his pistol, was also arrested for complicity in Hani's murder.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/65954.stm|work=BBC News|title=Hani Truth hearing resumes|access-date=3 November 2016}} The Conservative Party of South Africa had broken away from the ruling National Party out of opposition to the reforms of P. W. Botha. After the elections of 1989, it was the second-strongest party in the House of Assembly, after the National Party, and opposed F. W. de Klerk's dismantling of apartheid.

Historically, the assassination is seen as a turning point. Serious tensions followed the assassination, with fears that the country would erupt in violence. Nelson Mandela addressed the nation appealing for calm, in a speech regarded as presidential even though he was not yet president of the country:{{cite book|title=Tomorrow is Another Country|first=Allister|last=Sparks|author-link=Allister Sparks|year=1994|publisher=Struik}}

{{blockquote|Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white, from the very depths of my being. A white man, full of prejudice and hate, came to our country and committed a deed so foul that our whole nation now teeters on the brink of disaster. A white woman, of Afrikaner origin, risked her life so that we may know, and bring to justice, this assassin. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world. ... Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together against those who, from any quarter, wish to destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for – the freedom of all of us.}}

While riots followed the assassination, both sides of the negotiation process were galvanised into action, and they soon agreed that the democratic elections should take place on 27 April 1994, just over a year after Hani's assassination.

=Assassins' conviction and amnesty hearing=

In October 1993, both Janusz Waluś and Clive Derby-Lewis were convicted for the murder{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/15/world/2-south-africa-whites-guilty-in-murder-of-black.html|title=2 South Africa Whites Guilty in Murder of Black|first=Bill|last=Keller|work=New York Times|date=October 15, 2020|access-date=December 23, 2020}} and sentenced to death. Derby-Lewis's wife, Gaye, was acquitted. Both men's sentences were commuted to life imprisonment when the death penalty was abolished as a result of a Constitutional Court ruling in 1995.{{Cite web|last=Grootes|first=Stephen|date=2014-10-08|title=Chris Hani and the Arms Deal bombshell: A death that still hangs over us|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2014-10-08-chris-hani-and-the-arms-deal-bombshell-a-death-that-still-hangs-over-us/|access-date=2021-09-04|website=Daily Maverick|language=en}}

Hani's killers appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, claiming political motivation for their crimes and applying for amnesty on the basis that they had acted on the orders of the Conservative Party. The Hani family was represented by the anti-apartheid lawyer George Bizos.{{cite news|title=Waluś denies Hani killing was his idea|url=http://www.dispatch.co.za/1997/11/27/page%2019.htm|access-date=3 November 2016|publisher=Dispatch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205150722/http://www.dispatch.co.za/1997/11/27/page%2019.htm|archive-date=5 December 2008}} Their applications were denied when the TRC ruled that they had not acted under orders.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/313782.stm|work=BBC News|title=Hani killers denied amnesty|access-date=3 November 2016}} Following several failed attempts, Derby-Lewis was granted medical parole in May 2015 after he had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer; he died 18 months later, on 3 November 2016.{{Cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/my-husband-is-finally-free-gaye-derby-lewis-20161103?isapp=true|title=My husband is finally free - Gaye Derby-Lewis|newspaper=News24|access-date=2016-11-03|archive-date=16 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216224054/http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/my-husband-is-finally-free-gaye-derby-lewis-20161103?isapp=true|url-status=dead}}

On 10 March 2016, the North Gauteng High Court ordered Waluś to be released on parole under bail conditions.{{Cite web|title=Chris Hani's killer Janusz Walus granted parole|work=The M&G Online|date=10 March 2016 |access-date=3 November 2016|url=http://mg.co.za/article/2016-03-10-chris-hani-killer-janusz-walus-gets-parole}} The Department of Justice and Correctional Services lodged an appeal against the parole decision to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/668707804dfd9516a5f4ad0ede96a075/Janusz-Walus-fights-to-retain-his-SA-citizenship-20162508|title=Janusz Walus fights to retain his SA citizenship|access-date=16 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920120524/http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/668707804dfd9516a5f4ad0ede96a075/Janusz-Walus-fights-to-retain-his-SA-citizenship-20162508|archive-date=20 September 2016|url-status=dead}} The Department of Home Affairs has indicated that Waluś may have his South African citizenship revoked. On 18 August 2017, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein overturned Waluś's parole, a decision that was welcomed by the SACP.{{cite web|url=http://ewn.co.za/2017/08/18/court-overturns-decision-to-grant-chris-hani-s-killer-parole|title=Court overturns decision to grant Chris Hani's killer parole|date=18 August 2017|access-date=23 December 2020}} By October 2019, Waluś was still in prison, despite his lawyer's claim that he is completely rehabilitated.{{cite news|publisher =IOL|url=https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/advocate-says-janusz-walus-rehabilitated-simply-being-subjected-to-political-bias-34294287|title=Advocate says Janusz Walus rehabilitated, simply being subjected to political bias|date=7 October 2019|first=Goitsemang |last =Tlhabye|access-date=23 December 2020}} On 16 March 2020, Waluś was again denied parole by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.{{cite web|url=https://www.iol.co.za/pretoria-news/news/janusz-walus-denied-parole-over-chris-hani-assassination-44959125|title=Janusz Walus denied parole over Chris Hani assassination|date=16 March 2020|access-date=23 December 2020}} On 7 December 2022, Waluś was granted parole under strict conditions by Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.{{Cite web |last=Maromo |first=Jonisayi |title=Janusz Walus discharged from hospital, officially on parole |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-and-courts/janusz-walus-discharged-from-hospital-officially-on-parole-36db0cac-ab7c-456d-8372-611e4c3481d8 |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=www.iol.co.za |language=en}} In 2024, the government announced that Waluś was to be deported to Poland on 6 December with the Polish government paying for the proceedings.{{Cite web |title=Far-right extremist who murdered South African hero to be deported |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8glw6n547o |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=BBC |date=6 December 2024 |language=en}} Finnaly Walus arrived in Poland on 7 December.https://notesfrompoland.com/2024/12/07/janusz-walus-killer-of-anti-apartheid-leader-chris-hani-deported-to-poland-from-south-africa/

=Absence of conspiracy=

Hani's assassination has attracted numerous conspiracy theories about outside involvement. The final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission said it "was unable to find evidence that the two murderers convicted of the killing of Chris Hani took orders from international groups, security forces or from higher up in the right-wing echelons".{{cite web|url=http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheiddocuments/a/TRC-Hani.htm|title=Conclusions about the Chris Hani Assassination|publisher=Africanhistoryabout.com|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-date=4 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104075630/http://africanhistory.about.com/od/apartheiddocuments/a/TRC-Hani.htm|url-status=dead}}

Influence

Hani was a charismatic leader, with significant support among the radical anti-apartheid youth. At the time of his death, he was the most popular ANC leader after his senior, Nelson Mandela. Following the legalisation of the ANC, His support for the negotiation process with the apartheid government was critical in keeping the militants in line. Despite starting off as an advocate for armed resistance, he was able to adapt to the needs of the people and moved towards peaceful political negotiations.{{cite journal|url=http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=4047|title=Obituary: Hamba Kahle Chris Hani: 1942-1993|first=Nthoana and Mbulelo|last=Mzamane|journal=Southern Africa Report|volume=9|issue=1|date=July 1993|page=22|access-date=3 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173158/http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=4047|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}Hani also played a critical role in deepening the alliance between the SCAP, ANC and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).{{Cite web |title=South African Communist Party (SACP) {{!}} South African History Online |url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/south-african-communist-party-sacp |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=www.sahistory.org.za}} These relationships played a big role in the success of the anti apartheid resistance movement. Chris Hani became a global figure for anti apartheid and resistance movements around the world.

In Poland the far right for years has supported Waluś and praised his racist murder.https://mg.co.za/news/2020-09-08-right-wing-poland-and-the-glorification-of-hanis-killer/https://tvpworld.com/83862381/far-right-killer-of-anti-apartheid-leader-deported-back-to-poland In April 2025, the Never Again Association published a report on this phenomenon.https://www.nigdywiecej.org//docstation/com_docstation/172/a_heros_welcome_for_an_apartheid_killer._report.pdfhttps://publicystyka.ngo.pl/a-hero-s-welcome-for-an-apartheid-killer

Honours

File:Chris Hani Monument 4.jpg

In 1993, French philosopher Jacques Derrida dedicated Spectres de Marx (1993) to Hani.Jacques Derrida (1994), Spectres de Marx: l'état de la dette, le travail du deil et la nouvelle Internationale, Paris: Galilée, ({{ISBN|978-2-7186-0429-9}}).

{{MilAward Desc|SSAG|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc|SBS|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc|CLS|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc|DMG|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc|MMS|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc |MKSMG|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc |MKSMS|x20px}} (posthumously)
{{MilAward Desc|MKSMB|x20px}} (posthumously)

In 1997, Baragwanath Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the world, was renamed the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in his memory.[http://www.chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za/history The history of the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120803154609/http://www.chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za/history |date=3 August 2012 }}, chrishanibaragwanathhospital.co.za (accessed 3 November 2016) In September 2004, Hani was voted 20th in the controversial Top 100 Greatest South Africans poll.{{Cite web|url=http://www.youthvillage.co.za/2013/10/top-100-greatest-south-africans/|title=Top 100 Greatest South Africans|date=2013-10-13|website=Youth Village|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-23}}

Days after his assassination, the rock group Dave Matthews Band (whose lead singer and guitarist, Dave Matthews, is from South Africa) began playing what would become "#36", with lyrics and chorus referring to Hani's shooting.{{cite web|url=http://www.dmbalmanac.com/SongStats.aspx?sid=36|title=Song Listing for "#36"|publisher=DMBAlmanac.com²}}Martell, Nevin. "Dave Matthews Band: Music for the People", p. 57. Simon and Schuster, 2004.

A short opera, Hani, by composer Bongani Ndodana-Breen with libretto by film producer Mfundi Vundla, was commissioned by Cape Town Opera and the University of Cape Town, premiering at the Baxter Theatre on 21 November 2010.[http://www.tonight.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=358&fArticleId=5625935 Tonight - 'Bonsai opera' revitalises genre], tonight.co.za{{cite web|url=http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article768640.ece/The-struggle-continues|title=The struggle continues|author=Karen Rutter|work=Times LIVE|access-date=3 November 2016}}

A District Municipality in the Eastern Cape was named the Chris Hani District Municipality. This district includes Queenstown, Cofimvaba and Lady Frere.{{Cite web|url=http://www.chrishanidm.gov.za/about-us/|title=About Us – Chris Hani District Municipality|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-31}} The Thembisile Hani Local Municipality in Mpumalanga also bears his name.

In 2009, after extension of Cape Town's Central Line, the new terminus serving eastern areas of Khayelitsha was christened Chris Hani.{{cite news|url=http://westcapenews.com/?p=866|access-date=3 November 2016|title=New trains for Khayelitsha residents|publisher=West Cape News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718032611/http://westcapenews.com/?p=866|archive-date=18 July 2011|url-status=dead}}