Tribute to Chris Hani
10th April 2013
On April 10, 1993, the serving General Secretary of the SA Communist Party (SACP) and ANC NEC popular leader, Comrade Chris Hani, was gunned down by Janusz Walus, outside his home in New Dawn Park, Boksburg.
On the very same day then African National Congress (ANC) President Nelson Mandela addressed the nation on national television, and had this to say; "The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani has sent shock waves throughout the country and the world. Our grief and anger is tearing us apart. What has happened is a national tragedy that has touched millions of people, across the political and colour divide...Our decisions and actions will determine whether we use our pain, our grief and our outrage to move forward to what is the only solution for our country - an elected government of the people, by the people and for the people".
It was this tragic death of Comrade Chris Hani which signaled a shift and necessitated transfer of political power from the hands of the White racist apartheid regime to the hands of the people as led by the ANC under President Nelson Mandela. It was Comrade Chris's selfless blood that forced the apartheid regime to concede that April 27, 1994, should be the date for the first ever one person one vote and democratic elections in our country.
Comrade Chris was gunned down and his precious life taken away at the height of a political climax. Apartheid sponsored violence was ravaging our country, in collaboration with Inkatha in various parts of the country, notably in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. Many of our trade union activists, youth activists and comrades lost their lives during this time. To this day, the wounds of the victims of this heinous violence have not healed.