Ekurhuleni dedicates month of April to Chris Hani

The news comes in the same week that Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha appealed the court ruling ordering the release from prison of Janusz Walus, the man who shot and killed Hani more than 20 years ago, triggering a near civil war in the country.

Ekurhuleni spokesperson Themba Gadebe said the City of Ekurhuleni’s efforts to honour the former South African Communist Party leader had already started with 45 Ekurhuleni libraries running photographic exhibitions and essay and drawing competitions for primary school pupils portraying the life and times of Hani, with the competition set to run until the end of April.

Hani, who was assassinated 23 years ago, was SACP leader, Chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), and a luminary in the struggle against apartheid, and remains an integral part of South Africa’s political history, particularly in the City of Ekurhuleni where he was shot dead at his house in Dawn Park, Boksburg, on April 10, 1993.

The City of Ekurhuleni is set to convene a memorial lecture on Friday April 8 at Boksburg Civic Centre, while high school and primary school pupils from across the Ekurhuleni region will converge at the Boksburg Civic on the Saturday, along with pupils from the Chris Hani municipality in Eastern Cape for debate sessions centred around Hani’s leadership traits, his drive for the economic emancipation of South Africans and his contribution towards fighting the scourge of racism.

On Sunday April 10, President Jacob Zuma is expected to join the Hani family for a wreath laying ceremony at the Thomas Titus Nkobi cemetery in Boksburg. Hani’s gravesite was declared a National Heritage Site by Zuma in 2015.

The City of Ekurhuleni will also mark the day with the handing over of a new clinic to the community of Villa Lisa.

On Wednesday Masutha had said he would appeal a high court decision to free Hani’s killer.

Walus, a Polish immigrant, has served more than 20 years of a life sentence for the 1993 murder, which led to spontaneous riots, almost derailing the country’s transition to democracy the following year.

The justice ministry said the “minister believes that the honourable court erred in its judgment and is of the view that there are prospects of success on appeal”.