Hani’s wife dismisses claims she belongs to anti-Zuma faction
The widow of the late South African Communist Party (SACP) General Secretary Chris Hani has dismissed claims she belongs to a faction of the ANC that is opposed to President Jacob Zuma.
Limpho Hani was speaking at the 24th commemoration of the murder of her husband, who was gunned down outside his Boksburg home on April 10 1993.
“At the moment, we are living in a time of extreme paranoia and factionalism. I attended a prayer service on the 5th of April in Houghton to pray for our country. I was later informed that in some circles of our organisation that I belong to, a faction that is against the President attended the prayer service. I come from a praying family and whenever I have troubles I surrender to God,” Hani said.
She expressed concern about last week’s anti-Zuma marches across the country.
“Several women have been raped by taxi drivers in Soweto and another woman was raped and killed together with her boyfriend on the West Rand. There was no civil march to the taxi associations to demand justice for the raped women. When trade unions demand a living wage for workers in our country, they are met with disdain by employers. There is no civil society march to support poor workers. There was no civil society march after the Esidimeni tragedy. I feel there is a disconnection in our society of when we should stand together,” said Hani.
She ended her speech by thanking President Zuma for the support he has given to her family.
“I would like to thank President Zuma. As you all know my youngest daughter went through cocaine addiction. I was able to go through this long journey because comrade Zuma became a brother to me and a father to my child. He was a pillar of strength. I am not trying to get votes here. He was the last ANC leader to see Chris, so it was easy for me to go to him and tell him about my daughter’s addiction. President, my wish is that may God bless you a hundred-fold."