Chris Hani

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Chris Hani (birth name Martin Thembisile Hani ; born June 28, 1942 in Sabalele near Cofimvaba , Transkei , South Africa ; † April 10, 1993 in Boksburg , South Africa) was General Secretary of the South African Communist Party (SACP), a high-ranking member of the African National Congress ( ANC) and chief of staff of its armed arm Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK).

Life

Hani was born the fifth of six children to the married couple Nomayisi Merie (1918–2000) and Dalfane Gilbart (1910–1994). His father was a mobile construction worker who worked in Cape Town . There he was active in the ANC and as chairman of the Langa Vigilantes Association . Because of this commitment, he was banished from Cape Town to Transkei in 1962; however, he sought asylum in Lesotho .

For Chris Hani, an advantageous learning situation arose even before primary school. His aunt, who was the first member of the family to become a teacher and who worked in Soweto (Zondi), taught him to read, write and do arithmetic. This gave him an advantageous starting position that most of his classmates did not have. She practiced verse with him and, in his own estimation, "a new world began to open up before he went to school."

He spent his primary school at various institutions, initially in Zigudu and Sabalele. While teaching at a Catholic school, Hani developed a lively interest in Latin . That is why he was used in Catholic worship . At the age of 12 he expressed a desire to become a priest . This request was rejected by his father. Even so, young Hani had remained deeply impressed by the world of the priesthood during his time at the Zigudu Mission School, which had instilled in him a lifelong affinity for Latin literature . The father sent him to the secondary and non-Christian Matanzima Secondary School in Cala (1954-1956). The interest in Latin and Ancient History in this language lived on here too.

During his schooldays he befriended Thabo Mbeki , whose father Govan Mbeki introduced him to some aspects of Marxism-Leninism . His uncle Milton Hani, who lives in Stellenbosch ( Kayamandi Location ) , also influenced the thinking of Chris Hani. He was a member of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). When in 1954 some of his former teachers lost their jobs because of their involvement in the Unity Movement , this perception sharpened Chris Hani's thinking and he recognized the situation of black people in his country more clearly.

In 1958 he graduated from the Lovedale Missionary Institute in Alice with the Cape Senior Certificate . He studied at Fort Hare University from 1959 to 1961 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Latin and English from Rhodes University in 1962 , as Fort Hare had to accept the loss of its independence. During this course of studies, Hani attended lectures in English, Latin, Roman-Dutch law , philosophy , administrative law and practice, and the basics of criminal law . Like many others, he had received a scholarship for his studies . He then moved to Cape Town , where he worked as a trainee lawyer for the law firm Schaeffer & Schaeffer without completing this training.

In 1957 Hani joined the ANC Youth League and in 1961 the banned SACP. He took the name "Chris", actually the first name of his deceased brother, as his battle name . In 1963 he became a member of the MK , where he was a member of the leading Committee of Seven in the Western Cape Province . Leaflets were found on him at a police roadblock, indicting him under the Suppression of Communism Act . While released on bail , he illegally attended an ANC conference in Lobatse , Botswana . He returned to South Africa and was arrested again and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was able to go underground again and lived underground in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Finally he left South Africa. In the Soviet Union he received military training; then he took part in the "Bush War " in Rhodesia on the side of Joshua Nkomos Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) . In 1967 he fled to Botswana, where he was sentenced to two years in prison for illegally possessing weapons. At the end of 1968 he came back to ZIPRA and lived in various African countries. In 1974 he returned to South Africa to strengthen the illegal structures in the Cape region. From then on he was a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress. A few months later he came to Lesotho , where he lived for seven years and organized MK operations in South Africa.

He was assassinated several times by 1982 and South Africa put pressure on the Lesotho government to expel him and other opposition figures. In 1982, he fled to the Zambian Lusaka , where he was elected a member of the national executive committee of the ANC. In 1983 he was appointed "Political Commissioner" of the MK. There he trained fighters against the apartheid regime . Hani played a key role in quelling a revolt by ANC dissidents who were held in Angolan internment camps. However, he denied involvement in torture and murders. In 1987 he became Chief of Staff of the MK.

In 1990 he was able to return to South Africa. He became general secretary of the SACP in December 1991 as the successor to the sick Joe Slovo and continued to head the MK until 1992. When the end of apartheid became apparent in the early 1990s, he was one of the most popular leaders in the African National Congress after Nelson Mandela . Hani was on good terms with the masses in the townships and radical blacks; he was trusted to be able to “broker” the compromises to be reached in the ongoing negotiations between the government and the ANC.

assassination

Hani was murdered in April 1993 by the Polish immigrant Janusz Waluś . Behind this was a plot, the mastermind of which was former MP Clive Derby-Lewis from the Konserwatiewe Party . The aim was to destroy the negotiation process that should lead to the end of apartheid. Indeed, Hani's assassination brought South Africa to the brink of civil war. It was above all Mandela's rhetorical skills that prevented worse. He was given the opportunity to speak on television:

“Tonight I am reaching out to every single South African, black and white […]. 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. "

“Today I address every single South African, whether black or white [...] A white man, full of hatred and prejudice, came to our country and committed such a terrible deed that our whole nation is now on the edge of an abyss. A white woman of Boer descent risked her life by making it possible for the perpetrator to be arrested by reporting to the police. The cold-blooded murder of Chris Hani sent shock waves across the country and the world. [...] Now is the time for all South Africans to stand together against those who, no matter from which direction, want to destroy what Chris Hani gave his life for - the freedom of all of us. "

Waluś and Derby-Lewis are serving and serving life sentences for the murder.

Personal

Hani was married to the journalist and anti-apartheid activist Limpho Hani. There were three daughters in the family: Neo (* 1973), Nomakhwezi (1978-2001) and Lindiwe (* 1981). Nomakhwezi Hani died of asthma .

According to other sources, Cleopatra Thunyiswa Hani should also be one of his children as the oldest daughter. However, such a relationship was denied by his widow in 2015 because of contrary, publicly circulating speculations and according to her own research, also for a supposed Vanessa Hani. However, the possibility remains that there are children from premarital relationships, for example with Judy Thunyiswa, who died young.

Chris Hani liked jogging . In his spare time he read English literature , Greek mythology and ancient history .

Honors

Entrance area of ​​the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto

Web links

Commons : Chris Hani  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Inscription on the tombstone of the parents' grave in Sabalele. In: Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . Jonathan Ball Publishers , Johannesburg, Cape Town 2009, photo series between pages 148 and 149, ISBN 978-1-86842-349-1
  2. ↑ a b c d e Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics Number 4 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1992, 1st ed., Pp. 91-94. ISBN 0-86975-433-5
  3. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . Jonathan Ball Publishers , Johannesburg, Cape Town 2009, p. 13. ISBN 978-1-86842-349-1
  4. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 14
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h Thembisile 'Chris' Hani . at sahistory.org.za, accessed August 8, 2013
  6. ↑ a b c d Shelagh Gastrow: Who's who in South African Politics, Number Two . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1987, pp. 107-109. ISBN 0-86975-336-3
  7. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 35
  8. ^ Nelson Mandela : Long Walk to Freedom . Little, Brown and Company, New York / Boston / London 1994, ISBN 978-0-316-03478-4 , p. 836.
  9. ↑ Chris Hani time line 1942–2003. South African History Online , accessed January 11, 2020
  10. ^ Royal send-off for Nomakhwezi Hani. news24.com of March 17, 2001 (English), accessed on January 11, 2020
  11. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 205
  12. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 243
  13. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 7
  14. ↑ Gertrude Makhafola: Hani's wife clears air about 'daughters' . News from April 10, 2015 on www.iol.co.za (English)
  15. ↑ Lubabalo Ngcukana: Hani's daughter vs stepmom . Notification of City Press on 28 April 2013 www.media.otd.co.za (English, PDF document page 2)
  16. ↑ Janet Smith, Beauregard Tromp: Hani. A Life Too Short . 2009, p. 17
  17. ^ Pan-African News Wire: Hani: A New African Opera Premieres November 21 in Cape Town . Posted on November 19, 2010 on www.panafricannews.blogspot.co.at (English)
personal data
SURNAME Hani, Chris
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hani, Martin Thembisile (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 28, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Sabalele , Transkei , South Africa
DATE OF DEATH April 10, 1993
Place of death Boksburg , South Africa