It has been 23 years since the murder of freedom fighter Chris Hani, yet the scars remain fresh in the minds of his compatriots and family.
Chris Thembisile Hani was the leader of the South African Communist Party, the chief of staff of Umkhonto we Sizwe, and a fierce opponent of the apartheid government.
He remains an integral part of South Africa’s political history, particularly the metro’s where he was shot dead at his house in Dawn Park, Boksburg on April 10, 1993.
As such, the metro’s efforts to commemorate and preserve Hani’s memory are currently under way.
Forty-five of the metro’s libraries are currently running photographic exhibitions, and essay and drawing competitions for primary school pupils, portraying the life and times of Chris Hani.
These are set to run until the end of April.
Various events to commemorate Hani’s life have been organised, the first being a memorial lecture on April 8 at the Boksburg Civic Centre, to be presented by a notable speaker with in-depth knowledge and understanding of Hani.
On April 9, high school and primary school pupils from across Ekurhuleni will converge on the Boksburg Civic Centre to battle it out with pupils from the Chris Hani Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Expect heated debates centered on Hani’s leadership traits, the strides he made for the economic emancipation of South Africans and his contribution to fighting the scourge of racism.
On April 10 President Jacob Zuma is expected to join the Hani family together with the metro to observe the momentous day of the passing of Chris Hani through a wreath-laying ceremony set to take place at the Thomas Titus Nkobi cemetery in Elspark.
Hani’s gravesite was declared a National Heritage Site by the president in 2015.
Furthermore, the metro will continue to uphold Chris Hani’s ideals to provide quality primary health services to its citizens by officially handing over a brand-new clinic to the community of Villa Lisa on the morning of April 10.
To conclude the month-long celebrations of Chris Hani’s life, a groundbreaking hour-long theatre production will showcase Hani’s efforts in realising his HHH (Housing, Health and Hunger) ideals.
The theatre production will take place at the Springs Theatre on April 24.
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