The New Age
*Memories of a comrade*** *Dominic Tweedie, The New Age, Johannesburg, 12 April 2013*Martin Thembisile "Chris" Hani was born on 28 June. 1942. He was assassinated on April 10, 1993, 20 years ago.
If he were still alive Chris Hani would be 71. He could still have been in a leading position in our country right up to now. He is a lost leader of South Africa. It is a loss that is still felt by the whole country.
At the time of his death, Hani was general secretary of the South African Communist Party. The memory of their assassinated leader does not belong to the communists alone. But this does not mean that the significance of his assassination for the Communist Party and its members should be left out of consideration when we remember comrade Chris.
If one out of our last three general secretaries was assassinated, then the communists must know that their leaders are still in constant danger. Chris Hani was assassinated by Clive Derby-Lewis and Janusz Walusz because he was a communist and the top leader of all the communists of South Africa.
There are attempts to disregard comrade Chris's communism or to make him out as a rebel against the liberation movement. But Hani was a very normal member of the liberation movement in all respects, only outstanding for the fact that he did everything well.
Hani was a member of the ANC and of the ANC Youth League when he was still in his teens before those organisations were banned in 1960. After that he joined the already-underground SACP and then Umkhonto we Sizwe one year after it was founded.
Hani's age made him available during the heroic times of the ANC, from the 1950s to the 1990s, and he took full part. He did not shirk his duty. Whatever was in front of him, he took it on and distinguished himself. This is what makes him such a good example.
This is what we mean when we say, "Be like Comrade Chris". We mean: Do your duty when your turn comes and do it well.
Hani came from an extremely poor rural background. In an interview given to the historian Luli Callinicos less than three weeks before he was killed, comrade Hani says at one point:
/"Why did I join the CP? Why was I not just satisfied with the ANC? I belonged to a world, in terms of my background, which suffered I think the worst extremes of apartheid. A poor rural area where the majority of working people spent their times in the compounds, in the hostels, away from their families./ /"Now I had seen the lot of black workers, extreme forms of exploitation... and for me the appeal of socialism was extremely great. They get peanuts in order to survive and continue working for the capitalists. I didn't get involved with the workers' struggle out of theory alone."/Dr Callinicos then asked Hani how it was that he got to university. Hani replied: "Yes, that is an important question. In my family the first person to become a teacher... was my aunt... She was a source of tremendous influence to all of us. This girl coming from that sort of area, studying to become a teacher.
/"I remember as a small boy I used to have a fascination of books, I would read those books although I understood very little. She encouraged me and taught me... And then I became a very good pupil./ /"Well I got (the) Bhunga scholarship to take me to high school and then I even got a bursary and a scholarship to go to university because I was performing rather above average. It was extremely hard. One would have only one pair of shoes, one jacket and it was not easy because other students from families which were probably more comfortable than mine, the kids would be better clothed than myself. But I had accepted the fact that this was not important for me. What was important was to get my education."/Chris Hani went through Lovedale school and Fort Hare University. He graduated in 1961 with a BA in classics and English. It is remarkable that he studied ancient Latin and Greek literature and history. Those who studied the classics in those days were the cream of students. This study held the highest respect and its students were expected to become leaders of society.
Be like Chris Hani! Study, to the best of your ability!The aspect of comrade Chris Hani that one would not want to fail to mention is his bravery in action.
This is Hani describing the action of the Luthuli detachment that he led in the Wankie campaign:
/"This was a virgin victory for us since we had never fought with modern weapons against the enemy. For us that day was a day of celebration because with our own eyes we had seen the enemy run. We had also seen and observed each other reacting to the enemy's attack. A feeling of faith in each other and recognition of the courage of the unit developed."/ (Source: ANC, a view from Moscow, by Vladimir Shubin, 2008.)This was the late, admirable Chris Hani, assassinated general secretary of the South African Communist Party. We continue to remember him. We miss him.
(With thanks to Dr Luli Callinicos for making available interview material.) * /Dominic Tweedie is a member of SACP Gauteng PEC responsible for political education/ *From: http://www.thenewage.co.za/blogdetail.aspx?mid=186&blog_id=%202856* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- _*Communist University*_*:*_CU Downloads_: _*sites.google.com/site/cu2012courses/* <https://sites.google.com/site/cu2012courses/>_
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